LAHORE: A judicial officer posted at the sessions court has been transferred five days after the office-bearers of the Lahore Bar Association humiliated him and locked his courtroom allegedly for not granting bail to a businessman involved in a Rs35 million cheque dishonour case.

“The chief justice and judges of the Lahore High Court are pleased to transfer Additional District and Sessions Judge Farrukh Husain from Lahore, on representation, without substitute, and post him at Ferozwala, against an existing vacancy, in the public interest,” says a notification issued by the court registrar on Friday.

Also read: Lawyers lock court over bail refusal to client

A group of lawyers, including LBA office-bearers, had on Feb 16 locked the courtroom of AD&SJ Husain for denying desired relief to them. One of the newly elected representatives of the bar pleaded the bail of the businessman.

It was stated by the eyewitnesses that the judge was asking the lawyers to argue on merits of the case, however, the lawyers wanted to get an immediate order for grant of bail.

When the lawyers failed to get the favourable relief, they humiliated the judge and locked the courtroom. Some former office-bearers of the bar also witnessed the episode and unlocked the courtroom. However, the courtroom was again locked by the infuriated lawyers.

At least two judges had already refused to hear the bail petition and sent the same to the sessions judge owing to aggressive behaviour of the lawyers, he added.

Next day, the bar’s cabinet accompanied by Lahore High Court Bar Association President Shafqat Chohan had called on District and Sessions Judge Tariq Iftikhar Ahmad and discussed the matter.

A post-meeting statement issued by the LBA claimed that the dispute had been settled amicably.

Sources said bar leaders had persuaded the D&SJ to transfer the judicial officer.

It is to be mentioned here that all such incidents in past usually had the same climax. The LHC authorities had to transfer a former Lahore D&SJ Zawar Ahmad Sheikh owing to the bar pressure in 2010.

LBA President Chaudhry Ishtiaq A. Khan had denied the incident saying no office-bearer of the bar was involved in misbehaving with the judge or locking the courtroom.

He claimed that some members of the bar’s cabinet had visited the court of Farrukh Husain to resolve the dispute between a group of lawyers and the judge.

Published in Dawn February 21th , 2015

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