Strike: Courts closed in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas

HYDERABAD:

The lawyers’ community went on strike against the shortage of judges in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday.

They were also protesting against the appointment of judges from Sindh to the SHC. This decision to go on strike was taken at a lawyers convention held in Sukkur on March 4. Courts also remained closed in Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Badin, Tharparkar, Tando Allahyar, Thatta and Sanghar.  The SHC is working with one third of its sanctioned capacity of 40 judges. The lawyers from Sindh have been seen venting frustration over what they perceive as neglecting them and the lower court judges for positions in the SHC.

A recent meeting of the Judicial Commissioner chaired by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry approved two lawyers from Karachi for elevation to SHC judges from a list of eight names which comprised six session judges from other parts of Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2012.