Remember the slain: Black coats observe strike
Walk-through gates, metal detectors out of order at the lower courts.
File photo of lawyers. PHOTO: ONLINE
LAHORE:
Lawyers on Tuesday observed a strike to condemn the terrorist attack on lawyers and judges at the Islamabad district court. They wore black armbands to expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and said they would also wear them in court. They also announced three days of mourning and announced that they would file constitution petitions against the incident.
A resolution to this effect was passed in a joint session of the Lahore High Court Bar Association and the Lahore Bar Association at LHCBA’s Kiyani Hall on Tuesday.
The bars requested the government to award Rs10 million each to the families of the deceased and Rs2.5 million each to those injured.
LHCBA president Shafqat Mehmood Chohan cancelled all parking stickers issued to the lawyers and banned the entry of unrelated persons on the LHC premises. Litigants, lawyers and their clerks will be exempt. Chohan said new parking stickers would be issued after verification.
Speakers at the meeting said the country was facing the menace of terrorism and the incident in Islamabad had exposed the government’s lack of security arrangements.
They said the rulers had spent billions of rupees from the national exchequer to secure themselves but judges and lawyers had been left at the mercy of terrorists.
They said terrorists had challenged the lawyers’ community and they were ready to face them.
Lack of security
District and Sessions Judge Syed Hamid Hussain Shah and representatives of the Lahore Bar Association on Tuesday visited the civil courts to examine the state of security there.
Most of the walk-through gates and metal detectors were found to be out-of-order. There were no walk-through gates at the Model Town and Cantt courts. Police officials deputed there also did not have metal detectors.
The LBA cabinet made a list of security gaffes at the court and demanded that they be addressed on priority.
A committee comprising Saleem Ladhhi, Qaseem Aslam Hanjra and Zameer Ahmed Jhedu was set up to oversee the construction of boundary walls at the Model Town and Cantt courts.
Ladhi told The Express Tribune that 30 police officials were currently deputed at civil courts. He requested the number be increased to 60. He said policemen plainclothes should be deputed as well as snipers.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Akmal Khan, who deals with security at the lower courts, said police high ups had been requested to move the level of security at the courts to red alert. He said presiding officers at district courts, Model Town and Cantt courts including senior civil judges had also been directed to keep a strict check on security measures. He said six turrets would be set up in the coming weeks.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2014.
Lawyers on Tuesday observed a strike to condemn the terrorist attack on lawyers and judges at the Islamabad district court. They wore black armbands to expressed solidarity with the bereaved families and said they would also wear them in court. They also announced three days of mourning and announced that they would file constitution petitions against the incident.
A resolution to this effect was passed in a joint session of the Lahore High Court Bar Association and the Lahore Bar Association at LHCBA’s Kiyani Hall on Tuesday.
The bars requested the government to award Rs10 million each to the families of the deceased and Rs2.5 million each to those injured.
LHCBA president Shafqat Mehmood Chohan cancelled all parking stickers issued to the lawyers and banned the entry of unrelated persons on the LHC premises. Litigants, lawyers and their clerks will be exempt. Chohan said new parking stickers would be issued after verification.
Speakers at the meeting said the country was facing the menace of terrorism and the incident in Islamabad had exposed the government’s lack of security arrangements.
They said the rulers had spent billions of rupees from the national exchequer to secure themselves but judges and lawyers had been left at the mercy of terrorists.
They said terrorists had challenged the lawyers’ community and they were ready to face them.
Lack of security
District and Sessions Judge Syed Hamid Hussain Shah and representatives of the Lahore Bar Association on Tuesday visited the civil courts to examine the state of security there.
Most of the walk-through gates and metal detectors were found to be out-of-order. There were no walk-through gates at the Model Town and Cantt courts. Police officials deputed there also did not have metal detectors.
The LBA cabinet made a list of security gaffes at the court and demanded that they be addressed on priority.
A committee comprising Saleem Ladhhi, Qaseem Aslam Hanjra and Zameer Ahmed Jhedu was set up to oversee the construction of boundary walls at the Model Town and Cantt courts.
Ladhi told The Express Tribune that 30 police officials were currently deputed at civil courts. He requested the number be increased to 60. He said policemen plainclothes should be deputed as well as snipers.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Akmal Khan, who deals with security at the lower courts, said police high ups had been requested to move the level of security at the courts to red alert. He said presiding officers at district courts, Model Town and Cantt courts including senior civil judges had also been directed to keep a strict check on security measures. He said six turrets would be set up in the coming weeks.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2014.