Clash of titans: Lawyers, Customs officials brawl in court

A lawyer claims to being beaten up by officials as he was saving his client

KARACHI: A group of lawyers clashed with Customs officials on Thursday after the latter allegedly thrashed an advocate in the premises of Customs courts.

A lawyer, Ijaz Soomro, who claims to have been beaten up by the Customs officials, said that he was trying to save his client, Imran Khan, a clearing forwarding agent, from being abducted.

According to Soomro, he was accompanied by his client while they were leaving the Customs courts building after securing bail before arrest. However, some officials in plainclothes approached them and tried to push Khan in a vehicle parked next to the building. "When I tried to save him, the officials hit me and hurled abuses at me," Soomro said.

On the other hand, the Customs official, Zubair, refuted the allegation. He said that the whole scene was fabricated to help the suspect evade arrest. Despite being granted bail, Khan was taken away by the Customs in other cases.

For hours, the court premises remained in the grip of tension as lawyers did not allow the Customs official to leave. However, he was later allowed to leave as his back up arrived at the scene and some senior officers from both the sides intervened to resolve the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2015.