Judge sent on ‘long leave’ but protests persist

PBC says chief justice LHC should be fired; criminal cases should be registered.

LAHORE: Lawyers came up with fresh demands to continue their protest even after Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif gave in to their longstanding demand to transfer Lahore’s District and Sessions Judge Zawar A Sheikh.

After ignoring for three months the Lahore Bar Association’s request to transfer Justice Sheikh, the chief justice on Tuesday sent the district and sessions judge on leave for four months. Justice Sohail Nasir from Attock has been appointed in his place.

Justice Sharif will retire on December 8, 2010, before Justice Sheikh’s leave is over.

This development, however, failed to break the deadlock between the bar and the bench because the LBA and the Punjab Bar Council (PBC) announced new demands.

The LBA executive committee announced that it would continue its protest. The organisation’s president, Sajid Bashir, told The Express Tribune that the protest would continue till all those responsible for torturing lawyers are brought to book. Bashir said that the LBA also demands the cancellation of cases registered against the lawyers in Lahore.

The LBA’s senior vice president, Sayeda Lubna, told The Express Tribune that the protest would continue till the subordinate judiciary’s ‘association’ is abolished. She accused the judges of forming a lobby against the lawyers and said that one of the LBA’s demands is that the Lahore High Court should accept the resignations of all the judges who quit.

The LBA’s representatives said that they would continue appearing before the courts but wear black armbands in protest till their demands are met. The PBC, meanwhile, announced a three-day boycott of the courts – from October 6 to October 8 – to protest police high-handedness, its vice chairman Mumtaz Mustafa said. He said that the decision to boycott courts was taken after consulting the LBA.

Holding Justice Sharif responsible for the torture of lawyers, Mustafa said that he should be fired and a criminal case should be registered against him.

Mustafa also said that the lawyers want the Lahore High Court to disclose the names of the judges who tendered their resignations. Accusing the LHC officials of trying to mislead the media and the lawyers by lying about the resignations of the judges, he claimed that only one or two judges resigned even though the LHC demanded that the judges step down.

He said that the judges should resign now that Justice Sheikh has been replaced.

When asked about the impression that they are trying to create unrest in Punjab as the federal government has engaged him as its counsel in cases against the 18th amendment, Mustafa said that he hopes to learn by pleading such a high-profile case.

He added that the PBC’s executive committee chairman Nasrullah Warraich also represented the federal government before the Supreme Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2010.