ISLAMABAD, June 10: Malik Mohammad Qayyum, a former judge who now practises law, on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that he wanted to withdraw as a counsel for lawyers in a case challenging the Lahore High Court’s direction that they vacate their chambers on the LHC premises.

He held that he had been handling the issue in his capacity as judge of the LHC.

On the last hearing, the Lahore High Court Registrar had taken objection on his appearance as counsel on the ground that he, in his capacity as judge of the LHC, had been privy to so many official records, and that he should not have accepted the brief.

The dispute had arisen when the chief justice of Lahore High Court, through an administrative order on March 21, 2003, had ordered about 50 lawyers to vacate their offices as the high court had purchased the land from the Evacuee Board in 1996.

The eight petitioners are Chaudhry Ashraf Wahla, Syed Ahmad Saeed Kirmani, Syed Afzal Haider, Khawar Akram Bhatti, Ms Robeena Sulehri, Zulfikar Ali Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad Baig, and B.A Fakhri.