Boycott call divides lawyers | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Boycott call divides lawyers

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Anwar Qazi’s call for a countrywide boycott of court proceedings to protest against the president’s appointment of the two judges has created a divide among the legal fraternity, as the lawyers were witnessed protesting both in favour of the government and the judiciary.

Responding to the boycott call of the lawyer community’s National Coordination Council’s (NCC), a large number of lawyers — led by Anwar — converged at the Constitutional Avenue in the federal capital, staging a symbolic sit-in outside Parliament House to protest against the presidential orders.

Addressing the protesters, Anwar said the lawyers would not tolerate any unconstitutional move against the independence of judiciary.

However, no representative of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) participated in the strike. In Lahore, the lawyers observed a partial boycott of court proceedings in response to the strike call. The Lahore High Court Bar Association lawyers seemed divided in two groups. One group was chanting slogans in favour of the CJP, while the other group voiced support for President Asif Ali Zardari.

PPP workers also took out a rally to express solidarity with Zardari from the Alhamra Hall to the Charing Cross on The Mall.

Opposed: In Karachi, the lawyers’ community boycotted court proceedings against the presidential order on the appointment of judges without consultation of the CJP, while the People’s Lawyers Forum (PLF) opposed the boycott, chanting slogans in Zardari’s favour.

In Balochistan, there was again a mixed response from lawyers, as the Pakistan People’s Party-Baloch Bar Association Panel did not participate in the boycott.

In Peshawar, lawyers were also witnessed as being divided over the ongoing controversy, they nonetheless observed complete courts boycott across the province.

A rumpus was created at the Peshawar High Court Bar Association’s (PHCBA) general house meeting when the People’s Lawyers Forum (PLF) lawyers said “no” to the boycott call and walked out of the meeting.

The PLF lawyers — led by its provincial convener Barrister Masood Kausar — stood up and raised slogans in favour of Zardari.

Meanwhile, the lawyers affiliated with the PML-N, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and other political parties chanted slogans in favour of the CJP.
Source: Daily Times
Date:2/16/2010