On social media: Lawyers urge PTI to rein in anti-judiciary campaigners

Say the judiciary is an important organ of state and should not be disrespected.

ISLAMABAD: Lawyers leapt to the defence of the judiciary on Sunday as members of the bar admonished Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters for maligning members of the bench on social media.

The legal fraternity urged the PTI leadership to intervene and put an end to the vilification campaign against the judiciary.

Several leaders of lawyers’ bodies have expressed concern over the situation emerging following the release of the inquiry commission’s report, which rejected the notion that systematic rigging took place in the May 2013 polls.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Fazl-e-Haq Abbasi condemned the derogatory comments posted on social media against the judiciary in the last couple of days. He called upon the PTI senior leadership to take notice of the abusive language against judges.

“I personally know both Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan as upright, honest and irreproachable individuals,” he said.

Abbasi said both the parties had agreed that they would accept the commission’s verdict. “It is strange that in spite of that a flood of abuse is now being directed against judges on social media,” he said.

Kamran Murtaza, a former president of the SCBA, denounced the anti-judges campaign, saying it was ‘unfair’ because the judiciary is an important organ of the state, and should not be disrespected.

“Instead of blaming judges, PTI supporters should examine whether the standard of evidence, presented by the party’s legal team, were potent enough to declare the election as void,” he said.

He also advised the PTI leadership to muzzle all those supporters who are maligning the judiciary.



Eminent lawyer Chaudhry Faisal Hussain also condemned the use of derogatory language against judges, adding that the commission’s report would not affect the party’s vote bank.

The PTI legal wing’s senior vice president Gohar Nawaz Sindhu said despite concerns over the contents of the report, he believed that it was unfair to ridicule judges. “It is due to lack of political maturity that the young workers are blaming the whole judiciary,” he said.

According to him, the PTI legal team mismanaged the case before the inquiry commission. “The case could not be properly presented during the proceedings and a mound of evidence was not submitted to prove the case,” he added.

However, Pakistan Bar Council Executive Committee’s chairman Ahsan Bhoon said the judges have themselves invited the anti-judiciary campaign upon themselves by interfering in a political matter and probing the alleged rigging in 2013 polls.

“Since the beginning, we had been saying that the apex court judges should not probe alleged rigging because it is a political issue and against Article 225 of the Constitution,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2015.