KARACHI, April 11: The Sindh High Court issued notices to the Advocate-General, the Sindh Bar Council and other respondents in a writ petition filed by a senior lawyer against an SBC circular debarring him from legal practice.
Advocate Mahfoozyar Khan submitted that he was a lawyer of 30 years’ standing and president of the PML-Q Lawyers Wing, Sindh. He was working for more housing colonies for lawyers and enhancement of the benevolent fund amount payable to advocates on their attaining the age of 65.
Recently, he led a procession of pro-government lawyers from the Supreme Court registry to the Press Club and also attended a convention addressed by the chief minister. His rivals in the SBC belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party were offended by his activities and they circulated a letter to judges and other judicial authorities that his enrolment as an advocate had been cancelled and that he was no longer entitled to practice law.
The petitioner-lawyer said Article 17 of the Constitution guaranteed him the fundamental right to join any political party and the SBC circular was repugnant to the provision.
A division bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Ali Sain Dino Metlo issued notices to the respondents and the advocate-general, who is also ex-officio chairman of the bar council, for April 13.
CONTEMPT: The Sindh High Court issued notices to the Federal Works Ministry secretary, the officiating chief engineer of the Public Works Department and a federal attorney for April 26 in a contempt application moved by a superintending engineering of PWD.
SE Anwar Ali Baloch contended that the high court had directed on April 5 that the acting Chief Engineer, Shakeel Ahmed, South Zone, PWD, shall cease to hold office and that the senior-most superintending engineer shall be given the officiating charge pending selection of a permanent CE in accordance with the rules. But, the Works Ministry complied with the order by asking him to report to it in Islamabad. He was third in seniority and in the absence of two senior-most SEs, his transfer left Mr Ahmed as the senior-most SE and he continued to hold the charge of CE.
