MANSEHRA: A group of local lawyers have moved the Supreme Court against the rules restricting members of their community from running for bar offices before completing 15 years practice.

“We, the 123 lawyers of Oghi and Balakot tehsil bar associations and Mansehra district bar association, have challenged amendments to the Legal Practitioner Bar Council Rules 1976 by the Pakistan Bar Council seeking their repeal. The Islamabad High Court had turned down the petition, so we moved the Supreme Court, which has granted the leave to appeal,” former president district bar association Shahjehan Khan Swati told reporters here on Friday.

Mr Swati, who was accompanied by former Oghi Tehsil Bar Association president Alam Zeb Tanoli, said amendments to the Legal Practitioner Bar Council Rules stopping lawyers from running for the bar offices before completing 15 years practice were draconian, so they were unacceptable to the community.

He said under the said amendments, a lawyer would have to wait for years to cast vote and the wait would be five-year longer if he or she wanted to contest elections of the bar offices.

“Three offices of the Mansehra district bar association have long been lying vacant as ‘newcomers’ to the legal profession are not eligible to contest their elections under the amendments despite being much enthusiastic about it,” he said.

Mr Swati said the amendments in question were introduced to reduce the lawyers’ role in strengthening democracy and rule of law.

He said if lawyers were denied the right to speak and take part in bar politics for a long period, they won’t be able to effectively contribute to the efforts for dispensation of justice to people.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2014