Not leading by example: Lawyers to boycott courts today

K-P bar council has called a strike after a brawl between a civil judge and an assistant commissioner in Balakot.

BALAKOT: Courts across Hazara Division will remain closed on Wednesday (today) as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa bar council has called a strike after a brawl between a civil judge and an assistant commissioner in Balakot. Assistant commissioner (AC) Muhammad Ali Asghar stated in a police report that he was informed that Civil Judge Islamud Din Khan was getting sheds erected on land belonging to the municipal committee without permission. He said when he and his team asked them to stop they were verbally abused and physically assaulted by the judge and his staff. On his complaint, the police registered a criminal case against the judge. Meanwhile, president of the tehsil bar council Hameedul Haq Awaisi said the judge was monitoring the construction of a parking lot at the court premises which was a longstanding demand of the legal fraternity. Awaisi said while the judge was inspecting the construction, the AC and his staff reached the site and started abusing and thrashing the judge and his colleagues.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2014.