Supporting the judiciary: Lawyers across the country continue strike
Bar associations and lawyers across the country, in unison, observed a strike on Saturday, the second consecutive day, expressing their solidarity with the judiciary and branding the case against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar a conspiracy to malign the Supreme Court and its chief justice.
Lawyers from Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (K-P) boycotted court proceedings, took out rallies and threw their weight behind the top judiciary amidst the “Familygate” scandal in which a real estate tycoon levelled allegations of corruption and bribes taken by the chief justice’s son to allegedly “buy off” cases against him.
Meanwhile, lawyers in the Multan Bar Association said that they would give a gold medal to the man who leaked the controversial interview video featuring Malik Riaz, and support him if a case is launched against him.
Karachi
Lawyers of Sindh decided to observe a strike on Monday, to express solidarity with the superior judiciary after a decision taken at a conference of all bar associations of Sindh hosted by the Karachi Bar Association (KBA).
After day-long deliberations and series of speeches by the representatives of each bar association, the meeting decided that black flags will be hoisted atop bar buildings.
The meeting termed the case against Dr Arsalan a “conspiracy against the judiciary” and demanded a logical end to the drama.
Lahore
Lawyers from Lahore continued their strike on the second day, on the call of the Punjab Bar Council, and boycott court proceedings to express solidarity with the Supreme Court.
Lawyers at the Lahore district courts, Aiwan-e-Adal, Cantt Courts, Model Town and Lahore High Court stayed away from the courts and spent the entire day in the premises of their respective bars.
The Lahore Bar Association (LBA) also observed a complete strike, saying they stood with the judiciary in the past and will continue to do so in future.
K-P
The K-P Bar Council (KPBC) unanimously passed a resolution extending its all-out support to the judiciary and demanded the government to bring all those behind the conspiracy to stigmatise the judiciary to justice.
“We condemn Malik Riaz for conspiring against our judiciary. He should not be given space in this regard and should be brought to justice. Along with this, we also demand that all (media persons, lawyers, etc) who had been behind the plot, be treated in accordance with the law,” the resolution stated.
Swat
Slogans like “chief terey jan Nisar... bey shumar, bey shumar” were being chanted by enthusiastic lawyers of the Swat Bar Association (SBA), who took out a rally.
“If the chief justice’s son is guilty, he should be punished but this should not be associated with his father. We are with the chief justice of Pakistan,” said SBA President Qawi Khan.
Gilgit
Lawyers in Gilgit also boycotted court proceedings on the second consecutive day. The High Court Bar G-B, in a meeting held on Saturday, decided to play their due role to salvage the “judiciary under attack”.
AJK
The legal fraternity in various parts of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) held rallies to reiterate complete solidarity with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
In Mirpur, lawyers staged a demonstration by taking out a rally from the district court premises.
They raised slogans in favour of the Justice Chaudhry assuring him of their full backing.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2012.
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