HYDERABAD: Lawyers boycotted court proceedings on Thursday in response to the Sindh Bar Council’s call for protest against ignoring lawyers in appointment of judges.

They turned up in courts but did not appear before judges who were also present in the Sindh High Court but did not carry out routine matters because of the strike.

Ayaz Tunio, general secretary of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA), said that the protesting lawyers could not convene a meeting in the bar as a mark of respect for the death of a senior lawyer, Nisar Ahmed Unnar, a law professor, and because most lawyers had gone to attend his funeral.

He said the lawyers had sent a clear message through the strike that they would not accept any discrimination in elevation and appointment of judges.

An SBC leader and former HCBA president, Nisar Durrani, said the SBC would not tolerate any discrimination against Sindh’s lawyers.

The names of lawyers who were not even enrolled with the SBC were being considered for appointment as high court judges, which was a great injustice with Sindh-based lawyers, he said.

Meanwhile, SBC member Hyder Imam Rizvi, referring to Dawn’s report on Wednesday’s conference, has clarified that the point about discrimination and different experiences for lawyers from Sindh and Punjab for appointment as judges was actually raised by another SBC member, and not by him.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015

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