February 12, 2008	Tuesday	Safar 04 ,1429

LAHORE, Feb 11: Lawyers at the Lahore High Court (LHC) disrupted court proceedings here on Monday to ensure the implementation of the Pakistan Bar Council’s decision to observe complete boycott of the judges who took oath under the Nov 3 Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).

A lawyers’ convention on Saturday had called for observing complete boycott of the PCO judges to put their weight behind the deposed chief justice of Pakistan and other judges of the superior courts sacked by the chief of army staff after the promulgation of the PCO and imposing a state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007.

Gathered in the LHC compound at around 8:30am, the lawyers under the leadership of Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) President Firdous Butt went to court from court to restrain their colleagues from appearing before the PCO judges. Their move coincided with the first working day of the newly-appointed LHC additional judges.

The lawyers went to different courtrooms and made their colleagues leave them. They also chanted slogans ‘boycott, boycott’ in several courtrooms. When the lawyers tried to enter the courtroom of Justice M Bilal Khan, they damaged it after finding it locked from inside. Justice Bilal’s staff had locked it up from inside after hearing the lawyers were approaching the courtroom. Later, lawyers revisited the courtroom and found it empty.

Justice Bilal, during the tenure of former LHC chief justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry ended Dec 31, 2007, had suspended practice licences of over 15 lawyers during their movement for the restoration of the pre-Nov 3 judiciary.

The lawyers moved to the courtroom of Justice Ahsan Bhoon, a former LHCBA president who had been openly campaigning for the independence of judiciary before becoming an LHC judge, and gathered in front of it after finding it locked from inside. Justice Bhoon was inside the courtroom when it was locked.

LHCBA members pulled down Justice Bhoon’s name tag outside the courtroom and kicked the door and accused him of betraying them from the bar’s platform being their president. Then the protesting lawyers entered the courtroom of Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, who was holding the court proceedings.

Lawyers chanted slogans in his courtroom and compelled the sitting lawyers to leave. They made advocate Baleeghuzaman, son of Advocate General Ch Aftab Iqbal, to leave the courtroom of Justice Haq where he was to appear in a case.

They also made their fellows leave the courtroom of Justice Muzamil Khan by chanting slogans in favour of the boycott.

They also persuaded Muhammad Ahmad Qayyum, son of Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum, to leave the courtroom but he declined. Later, when the lawyers gathered in the barroom, the bar president announced cancelling membership of Ahmad for not paying heed to the bar’s call. The lawyers visited courtrooms thrice to make sure nobody was present in the courtrooms.

The lawyers at Aiwan-i-Adl also observed complete boycott of the court proceedings, but without making any effort.

Talking to Dawn, LHCBA President Firdous Butt said the bar would ensure a complete boycott of the PCO judges till Feb 18.

She said ensuring a boycott of the PCO judges by going court to court was a must because it was lacking during the stint of former LHCBA president Ahsan Bhoon. She added when the boycott was continuing in NWFP and Balochistan, in principle it should have been observed in Punjab from day one.

She said that after Ahsan Bhoon opted to become an LHC judge, the lawyers, who had voted for him in the election for the LHCBA president, were angered and frustrated. “He had sold their trust,” she said and added it would not make any difference because in future the lawyers, who had taken oath as judges, would neither remain part of the bar nor the bench.

She said the PBC had to limit the boycott to one day in a week and an hour daily because Ahsan Bhoon and his aides had managed to influence the council. “Now after yielding to the demand of all the lawyers, the PBC has revived its decision of full boycott till the elections,” she added.

She said rendering sacrifices was a must to make any movement successful. “Everybody needs money to make both ends meet, but we cannot leave our struggle at this critical juncture,” she added.

She said that the movement for creation of Pakistan during which the people struggled in an era when modern gadgets of communication were not available had inspired her. “They were jailed in far-flung areas, and not allowed to talk to anyone for months,” she added.