ISLAMABAD, June 26: The Supreme Court on Thursday announced that Supreme Court Bar offices in the Lahore and Karachi registries had been closed as they were being misused by the Bar, prompting immediate criticism by the Bar members.

An announcement by the Supreme Court registrar here said: “In view of the misuse of the Bar Rooms by the office-bearers of the SCBA, it is notified that the Bar Rooms in the registries of the Court at Lahore and Karachi shall remain closed.”

The announcement said the bar rooms would be opened for “lawful” activities of members when a bench would be functioning at the branch registries.

The Supreme Court decision has come two days ahead of the proposed release of a white paper by the Bar about the working of the judiciary in the last three years.

Mr Hamid Khan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said the order would not deter the legal fraternity which, he asserted, was struggling for the revival of the Constitution as it was before Oct 12, 1999, election of the president under the constitutional mechanism, and withdrawal of the three-year extension in the retirement age of judges.

The SC announcement said the accommodation allocated to the bar association was the “property of the Supreme Court and not the property of the Bar and can be taken back any time if it is misused by the user.”

“The bar association does not pay even the utility bills, rather the staff canteen located in the Bar has been made a source of income by the office-bearers of the Supreme Court Bar Association.”

The SC announcement, signed by Registrar M.A. Farooqi, said that in order to avoid any inconvenience to the other Bar members, the Bar Room in the main registry at Islamabad shall remain open during office hours for lawful activities of the members. “However, press conferences making illegal criticism of the court/judges are not allowed to be held in the precincts of the court and or in the Bar.”

Mr Hamid Khan said the white paper would be released on July 28 at the Karachi Hall of the Lahore High Court Bar Association. He said the building of the Supreme Court was not the property of any individual and was state property. As regards the utility bills, he said all the utility bills of the court were paid by the government, and the bars are also part of the judicial set-up.