SCBA, PBC, others condemn smear campaign against judges

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), along with bar councils/bar associations Monday condemned and rejected what they called the smear campaign being launched against the judges of apex and superior judiciary, at the behest of leadership of particular political party which had just lost majority in Parliament through democratic process.

In a statement issued here, they said it is obvious that the purpose of the smear campaign is to pressurise the judiciary for achieving unconstitutional and undemocratic agendas and to further polarise the society. The statement said the entire legal fraternity fully endorses the decisions of the apex court.

As far as the so-called accusation being continuously made by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, regarding the midnight opening of Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court, the legal fraternity fully endorsed and welcomes the opening of courts as it prevented all the likely unconstitutional and unlawful conspiracies.

The way Imran Khan is accusing the courts, it appears that he and his party was on a collision course with state institutions and wanted to indulge in something extra-constitutional.While condemning the smear campaign against the judges and the judiciary in strongest possible terms, Waseem Mumtaz Malik, secretary SCBA also stated that no one has a right to malign judges for petty political gains. He vowed that if such malicious social media propaganda does not end, the legal fraternity will take punitive action against the wrongdoers.