Judges resume work without waiting for DSJ

LAHORE: Judges of Lahore’s subordinate judiciary observed a partial strike on Wednesday as about half of them resumed work not waiting for District and Sessions Judge Zawar Ahmed Sheikh.

The judges who did not hear cases were demanding the return of Judge Sheikh whom the Lahore High Court (LHC) has stopped from working in pursuance of the demands of the lawyers of the Lahore Bar Association (LBA). The LBA lawyers have demanding the transfer of Judge Sheikh, calling him anti-lawyer.

However, some members of the LBA and some judges confirmed that LBA office bearers went against Judge Sheikh after he refused to make appointments of naib qasids on their recommendations.

Most of the judges who resumed work performed their duties in their chambers instead of sitting in the court rooms.

Some of them simply adjourned the cases without holding any proceedings. However, court staff was present in all court rooms to facilitate the litigants.

The litigants faced problems due to the absence of judges. Sarfaraz Iqbal, and his three sisters at the Aiwan-e-Adal courts, told The Express Tribune that two weeks ago he had filed a case to be declared the successor of his deceased father and the judge had fixed July 14 as the date for recording the testimony of all the heirs including his three sisters and their mother.

He said he had brought his three sisters for recording their statements but when they reached the court, he found out that the judge was on leave. He said it was very difficult to bring all his sisters together to the court as they are married and lived in different parts of the city.

Advocate Qaisar Sarra said that the disturbance was caused by some “corrupt elements” in the LBA for their vested interests.

He said those who were leading the protests against the judiciary never visited the bar and were unaware of the real issues at the bar.

He said a number of bar members were contemplating filing an application with the Punjab Bar Council against those lawyers who misbehaved with the judges and humiliated them by hurling shoes at them.

A spokesperson of the Lahore High Court (LHC) said that all the judges of the subordinate judiciary were performing their duties diligently. He said, however, that Judge Sheikh would resume his duties in a few days after LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif returns from vacation.

LBA president Sajib Bashir said that after dialogue with the LHC Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, the lawyers have ended their boycott and were appearing before the courts. He said lawyers had no motive behind this strike other than the transfer of Judge Sheikh who had been misbehaving with the lawyers.

He said judges who were observing the strike were acting in violation of their code of conduct as they were behaving akin to a trade union.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2010.