LAHORE: A crowded courtroom of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday echoed with a slew of profanities as a group of lawyers turned hooligan.

Justice Abdul Sami Khan was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a woman, Bilquis Zareena, who sought the recovery of her daughter Ayesha and grandson Alyan Ali. The two had been allegedly missing for the past six months.

Ms Zareena claims her daughter was the second wife of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) member Maqsood Buttar, and fears that her daughter and grandson’s lives are in danger.

A team of lawyers supporting Mr Buttar were present in court when the judge resumed hearing after the arrival of DIG Investigations Sultan Ahmad. The officer sought more time to complete the investigation and Justice Khan expressed dismay over the delay.

Representing the petitioner, Barrister Usama Malik, a junior associate of senior counsel Asma Jahangir, lamented that police had not issued a single summons to any of the suspects, even though the FIR was registered in December last year, alleging that police were protecting Mr Buttar.

Arguing on behalf of the legal fraternity, PBC member Ishtiaq A. Khan argued that the case against his colleague was fabricated as part of a scheme hatched by his political rivals. He denied that Mr Buttar was related to the missing woman, and challenged the maintainability of the petition.

After the judge adjourned further hearing until June 23 and retreated to his chambers, the lawyers who had showed up to support Mr Buttar attacked Mr Malik. They roughed him up and ripped his shirt. Some of them also manhandled the complainant, Ms Zareena.

The lawyers shouted profanities directed at Ms Jahangir, alleging that she had filed a fake case against Mr Buttar to tarnish his reputation, and walked out of the courtroom shouting slogans against her.

The petition Ms Zareena filed claims her daughter worked in Mr Buttar’s law chambers and they later got married. However, she claimed her daughter had informed her that the two had developed differences.

She said that Ms Ayesha and her two-year-old son had been living in a flat in Model Town and alleged that Mr Buttar had tried to kill Ms Ayesha once before, by pushing her off a cliff near Murree, causing her multiple injuries and fractures.

She said in November 2016, she had visited her daughter’s residence in Model Town but she wasn’t there. The petitioner expressed apprehensions about the life of her daughter and grandson. She also alleged that her family had been receiving threats from the lawyer’s side.

Condemnation

The Joint Action Committee, which represents several NGOs, political parties and activists, issued a statement condemning the attack on Ms Jahangir’s legal team and the verbal abuse targeted at her.

Terming lawyers’ behaviour “an obstruction of justice”, the forum’s statement contended that Justice Khan was present in the courtroom when the lawyers supporting Mr Buttar attacked Advocate Shabir Hussain, who was arguing on behalf of Ms Zareena. They accused the unruly lawyers of also verbally abusing and harassing Advocate Noor Ejaz, another associate of Ms Jahangir.

Several activists also took to social media to defend Ms Jahangir and the petitioner using the hashtag #RecoverAyeshaAndAlyaan.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2017