Senior lawyer slams bar leaders, backs Asma

LAHORE: Supreme Court senior lawyer Ehsan Wyne has strongly condemned the office-bearers of Pakistan Bar Council and Lahore High Court Bar Association for criticising and threatening a veteran lawyer and former president of Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jahangir.

Wyne, also chairman of an internationalist body of jurists, Democratic Lawyers Association (DLA), came out in support of Ms Jahangir on Saturday after the LHCBA and PBC leadership reprimand her for criticising the Supreme Court judgment in Panama Leaks case. The bar leaders had demanded her to apologise and threatened to block her entry into courts.

Former secretary general of Awami National Party (ANP), Wyne said in a statement that Ms Jahangir was correct in calling the Supreme Court verdict the worst among a series of judgments under the doctrine of necessity, which paved the way for martial laws, and that the court had no jurisdiction under Article 184(3) to scrutinise and disqualify an elected prime minister.  He said every judgment announced becomes a public property, and anybody can comment on it. He demanded the lawyer leaders show decency and respect for veteran lawyers, and democratic norms.