Post-verdict misbehaviour: Judges suspend work at city courts

SHC forms panel to check outbreaks of violence in future.

KARACHI: All the judges of the subordinate judiciary stayed away from work on Wednesday to protest the unruly behaviour of lawyers who misbehaved with a Judicial Magistrate East and created a scene at his court on Tuesday.

No judge attended court work and they stayed in their chambers. They held consultations with each other and expressed solidarity with the judge and judicial staff attached to his court.

Thousands of cases were adjourned and under-trial prisoners, brought from Central Prison Karachi to the city courts complex, were sent back as the court staff gave new dates of hearing.

The Sindh High Court took notice of the disruption. The Express Tribune learnt that puisne judge, Justice Maqbool Baqar, who supervises the lower courts, inquired into the incident late on Tuesday evening. He was informed that there would be no strike and the judges were only expressing solidarity with the JM East. Later on the directive of the Sindh High Court, a committee was formed of all five district and sessions judges of Karachi division and the presidents of the Karachi and Malir bar associations to ensure that no such incident takes place in the future.

The lawyers gave vent to their anger on Tuesday evening when two of their comrades, including a woman lawyer, were sentenced to serve two years in prison on charges of defrauding a client.

A group of 35 to 40 lawyers prevented the custody of the convicted lawyers and manhandled the JM East and his staff. The situation was controlled after an additional district judge on the orders of District Judge, East, suspended the sentence and granted bail to the accused against a solvent surety of Rs100,000 each.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2012.