Lawyers run riot as LHC orders arrest of their Multan leader

ISLAMABAD: The conflict between the Bar and the Bench touched its peak on Monday as lawyers went on a rampage and broke down the main entrance to the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Block after a full bench ordered the arrest of Multan High Court Bar Association (MHCBA) president Sher Zaman Qureshi in a contempt case.

The clashes left some lawyers and 12 policemen, including SSP Operations Athar Ismaeel and DSP Pervaiz Butt, injured. A large number of lawyers gathered at the LHC premises before the full bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah started its proceedings against the two contemnors – Sher Zaman and Qaiser Kazmi.

The black coats, chanting anti-judiciary slogans, tried to enter the main gate of the Chief Justice Block. However, the law enforcement personnel thwarted their attempt to enter his courtroom which was protected by two layers of security, first police and second by Rangers. The Rangers were called in especially for Monday because of the protest.

The bench issued the arrest orders for Sher Zaman as he did not appear before the court. The bench also suspended the licences of Sher Zaman and Qaiser Kazmi for disrespecting a Multan Bench judge.

As the protesting lawyers received information about the court order, they went to The Mall Road for protest, demanding cancellation of arrest warrants and withdrawal of the decision about the suspension of practice licences. The protesters also ran amok at the GPO Chowk. A group of lawyers went out of control and stormed the judges’ gate which was flattened as the result of the attack. They raised slogans against the judges while storming the premises.

Lawyers also pelted stones at the LHC which injured some policemen. In retaliation, the police used water cannons but the lawyers started pelting stones at them, which resulted in the use of tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Later, the lawyers staged a sit-in at the GPO Chowk, causing a traffic mess. They announced to continue their sit-in until the withdrawal of the arrest warrants. However, they called off the protest after the intervention of bar leaders.

The LHC Bar Association president, Chaudhry Zulfiqar, convened an emergency meeting and announced a full day strike for Tuesday (today). Various representative bodies of lawyers have also given the call for a countrywide strike.

The LHC, in the written order, directed the Multan PRO to arrest and present Sher Zaman and Qaiser on the next hearing on Tuesday (today). The chief justice observed during the hearing that the sanctity of the court was supreme and there would be no compromise on it. The bench observed that Sher Zaman did not appear before the court despite the assurance given by the leaders of the Pakistan Bar Council, Punjab Bar Council, LHCBA and MHCBA.

The court termed Sher Zaman’s conduct “most unbecoming and demeaning, that blatantly offends the prestige and honour of this court”. On July 24, Sher Zaman and Qaiser along with some others allegedly misbehaved with Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan and obstructed the court proceedings at the Multan Bench. They had also vandalised and ransacked the court premises and ripped off the nameplate of the judge.

Expressing displeasure over the lawyers’ behaviour, the LHC chief justice had stopped the judges from working at the Multan Bench. The incident also led to the boycott of courts of the region by lawyers’ bodies.

Although, the Multan Bench was restored after a few days, the lawyers are still on strike. And in Multan, the lawyers condemned the alleged harsh treatment of their colleagues in Lahore and backed the countrywide strike which, they said, would continue till the removal of the LHC chief justice.

The situation got tense when a heavy contingent of the police led by CPO Muhammad Salim raided the office of Sher Zaman to arrest him when a joint lawyers’ meeting was under way at the district courts. The information about the raid soon reached the district courts and Sher Zaman managed to escape on a bike to some undisclosed location.

Addressing a sit-in at the Kutchery Chowk, MHCBA general secretary Nadeem Farid said the matter should be solved through dialogue and asked the Supreme Court to intervene. Talking to The News from Lahore, Multan District Bar president Yousaf Zubair alleged that the police used rubber bullets to disperse the lawyers.

Multan District Bar Association General Secretary Anis Mehdi, who is also in Lahore, said the lawyers would observe a countrywide strike on Tuesday against the police action. He alleged that the LHC chief justice had violated the Constitution and demanded registration of a case against him under Article 6.

Both Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), Rawalpindi Bench, also announced to boycott court proceedings today. IHCBA President Arif Chaudhry, while talking to The News, said that the lawyers will not tolerate any form of dictatorship to be imposed on them. “We condemn the incident in strongest words.”

The judicial system of this country cannot function without coordination between the Bar and Bench, and judges should realise this sensitivity, Arif Chaudhry said. The way the LHC CJ closed the Multan bench is illegal and now lawyers were being tortured by the police.

To a question that if lawyers were not responsible for the misbehavior with judges, the IHCBA president said that any isolated incident should have been dealt in accordance with law of the Bar Councils Act. There are several references pending against the judges of the superior judiciary, but no one is ready to take up those cases and judges functioning without any hindrance.

HCBA, Rawalpindi bench, President Zafar Mughal, said that the Lahore incident is very remorseful. If a lawyer had misbehaved with a judge, the issue should have been dealt with mutual understanding unlike this hard stance taken by the bench. He said that they had announced a strike at the Rawalpindi bench for today on Tuesday and the district bar association will hold an emergency meeting in this regard as well, he added.