Orient labs hearing: Unfair FIR case put off as exasperated lawyer quits

‘Will a case be filed against you if the building caves in?’.

LAHORE:

Additional District and Sessions Judge (AD&SJ) Chaudhary Nazir Ahmed , on Friday, fixed February 18 for arguments on the pre-arrest bail hearing of the three owners of Orient Labs. The date was fixed after the counsel for Orient Labs, Sardar Khurram Latif Khosa, stormed out of the court room after having a heated exchange with the judge.

Khosa sought more time to argue on the report prepared by the chief secretary. The judge refused to grant additional time. The lawyer said there was pressure as the media had put a spotlight on the case.

The judge responded that there was no pressure and that the lawyer was mistaken. Judge Ahmed added that the case was important as the building collapse had claimed 26 lives. Khosa asked the judge if a murder case would be registered against him (the judge) if the Sessions Court building collapsed. The judge said he did not own the court building.

The AD&SJ told Khosa to establish that a malafide FIR had been registered against his clients. The lawyer said this was the reason he wanted to produce the report prepared by the chief secretary.

Khosa then said it seemed that the judge had already made up his mind. The judge remarked a bail hearing is not a constitutional matter. Khosa said he was not a constitutional lawyer. The judge explained that his comment was not about what kind of lawyer Khosa was, rather that this was not a constitutional matter.

Khosa said he did not need to be told by the court how to argue his case. The judge said that some lawyers seemed to always blame the court. Khosa then left the court in a huff, saying that he would not argue.

At the last hearing, the judge had given petitioners, Orient Labs chief executive Zaheer Iqbal and directors Zafar Iqbal and Zubair Iqbal a ‘last chance’ to establish that a malafide FIR has been registered against them.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2012.