Men in black: Lawyers lock out district court

SI says CCTV footage corroborating his stance is available.

LAHORE: Over a dozen lawyers locked the main doors of a district and sessions court on Thursday after an FIR was registered against them on Wednesday for beating up an SI in a courtroom.

The proceedings of the day were left in limbo after the lawyers locked the main door of the court and the judge’s door. Advocate Malik Ali Haider Awan had filed a habeas corpus petition to recover Zafar Iqbal, a citizen, from the custody of Harbanspura police. Harbanspura SI Abdul Qayyum had appeared at the court to submit a reply regarding the case. Qayyum had appeared at the court to clarify that Iqbal was being detained as he had been nominated in an FIR.

A group of lawyers including Malik Ali Haider Awan, Muhammad Yunus, Malik Waheed Awan, Nasrullah Pasha and Ijaz Sohotra had pounced on the official when he reached the courtroom. They had dragged Qayyum outside and manhandled him near the judge’s door. The SI had complained against the men at Islampura police station.

The lawyers locked out the court after learning that an FIR had been registered against them. They also raised slogans against police and Salim Ladhi and Ghulam Abbas Sahir of the Lahore Bar Association (LBA). The lawyers locked the gates at 9am and opened them only for lawyers at 1pm. They also got an FIR registered against 20 officials of Harbanspura police claiming they had manhandled them and snatched valuables from them.

Speaking to The Express Tribune SI Qayyum said CCTV footage corroborating his stance was available. Advocate Malik Ali Haider Awan rejected the allegation saying he had not beaten up any SI. Awan said police had on the other hand manhandled him and other lawyers while they were standing in front of the court.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2014.