Lawyers chase magistrate out of courtroom

Magistrate denied bail to lawyer’s brother in cow theft case.

LAHORE:

A group of lawyers chased a judicial magistrate out of his courtroom and locked the doors after the judge declined to grant a lawyer’s brother bail in a cow theft case on Saturday.

Advocate Sajid and other lawyers appeared before Judicial Magistrate Amir Nazir Awan at the Model Town courts to seek bail for Muhammad Arif, the advocate’s brother. Sajid submitted that Arif was innocent and had not even been named in the FIR of the case. Meanwhile, Green Town police sought physical remand of Arif. The judge granted neither the police request nor the bail request, instead sending the accused on judicial remand for 14 days.

Arif’s lawyers lost their temper upon reading the judge’s orders and an angry verbal exchange ensued in the courtroom, said witnesses. They said that the lawyers abused and threatened the judge and advanced menacingly towards him. Court staffers blocked their way and the magistrate escaped into his chambers and later to the courtroom of another judge, Liaqat Ali Ranjha. The lawyers meanwhile directed the staffers in Awan’s court to leave and the room was later locked.

Damage control

Lahore Bar Association General Secretary Asad Abass Zaidi and other bar representatives later arrived at the courts to try and pacify the lawyers. Zaidi said that they had “strong reservations” over the judge. He said that there should be better coordination between lawyers and judges.

LBA Model Town Vice President Agha Shazaib Masood said that the district and sessions judge had called a meeting with lawyers’ representatives for Monday to discuss the matter. He said Awan and Ranjha would also be present. He denied that the lawyers had locked the courtroom. He said they had told the judge to leave the room.

The police had arrested Arif in the cow theft case on the basis of information provided by another accused in the case, Irfan Masih.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2012.