LHCBA, LBA vow legal challenge to governor's rule

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) and Lahore Bar Association (LBA) have decided to approach the higher courts against the imposition of emergency and governor's rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The decision was taken at a joint general house meeting of both associations, where lawyers vowed to continue their struggle for the Constitution and the judiciary.

The meeting was followed by a rally from the LHC to GPO Chowk on Mall Road, where scuffles also took place between police and lawyers.

The meeting was chaired by LHCBA President Babar Murtaza and attended by LBA President Irfan Hayat Bajwa, lawyers' leader Hamid Khan and a large number of other lawyers.

Addressing the participants, Hamid Khan said the lawyers' struggle would continue until the Constitution and the judiciary were 'restored'.

He criticised the president and prime minister, saying PTI leader Sohail Afridi had demonstrated that positions and offices were not what mattered most.

He said a meeting of the Lawyers' Action Committee would be held in Karachi to announce a course of action.

Lawyer Rai Muhammad Ali said if the imposition of governor's rule and emergency in 2009 had been illegal and unconstitutional, similar measures could not be justified under the Constitution now.