Govt will have to write Swiss letter before July 12: SCBA
Akhtar Amin
PESHAWAR: The President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Yasin Azad, said on Friday that the government would have to write the letter to the Swiss authorities before July 12 to put an end to the prevailing tense situation in the country.
Talking to reporters after his address to the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, the SCBA president admitted that tension between the state institutions was intensifying. He said the incumbent premier might also be disqualified if he refused to write to the Swiss authorities.
Earlier, speaking to the PHC bar, Yasin Azad reaffirmed the commitment that lawyers were against those hatching conspiracies against the independent judiciary.The SCBA president also demanded an impartial inquiry against those who had received benefits worth billions of rupees from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz.
Regarding the role of the lawyers community in the Dr Arsalan Iftikhar case, he said he had conveyed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that the case of three individuals had nothing to do with the judiciary and the case be referred to spy agencies for a thorough investigation, adding the Supreme Court did the same in the suo moto case.
Yasin Azad asked the government to conduct a fair and an impartial inquiry into the case of Dr Arsalan Iftikhar and Malik Riaz. He said the trial should be run on the basis of inquiry and everyone found guilty should be brought to justice.
However, he said every elected government should complete its constitutional term and the opposition parties should wait for the next election.
“If people and politicians could bear 11 years long military dictatorship, they should also wait for the five-year term of the democratic system to complete,” he added.
Criticising Hamid Khan, the lawyer of Malik Riaz, he said for the sake of Rs30 million, Hamid took the case of a man who tried to ridicule the judiciary and create rifts in the lawyers community.
He said a lawyer leader had no power to give a call for a national level strike through district bar association or ban entry of lawyers into the bar rooms as it was the job of Pakistan Bar Council and SCBA, and the lawyers’ national coordination committee.
PHCBA President Abdul Lateef Afridi said it was a matter of concern that Hamid Khan group kept quiet over the Malik Riaz issue because he himself got a huge fee. Qazi Muhammad Anwar went to London and others remained silent over the issue.
In the ongoing crisis, he said the PHCBA was the first bar of Pakistan that announced its support for the judiciary and also demanded an impartial inquiry into the Dr Arsalan case.Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) president Shehram Khan said they would not support the wrong decisions of the lawyers’ bodies and ban lawyers who would defend someone disliked by the community.
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