LAHORE/MULTAN: Over a hundred lawyers broke past the judges’ entry gate of the Lahore High Court and clashed with security personnel after the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Lahore High Court Bar Associa­tion’s (LHCBA) Multan bench president Advocate Sher Zaman Qureshi, who has repeatedly refused to join the contempt of court case initiated against him for misbehaving with Justice Qasim Khan of the Lahore High Court’s Multan bench.

The riot police deployed inside the high court premises were unable to contain the protesting lawyers and resorted to using water cannons and tear gas to disperse them.

The charged lawyers mar­ched on Mall Road and congregated outside the LHC judges’ gate in an attempt to restrict the exit of Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and other judges.

Before taking out the rally, the lawyers had registered their protest on the court premises and dismantled the iron grille gate installed for the safety of the chief justice block. However, the Rangers personnel deployed for the security of the block managed to stop them from entering the premises.

Storm Mall Road and mass outside LHC judges’ gate to restrict CJ Shah’s exit; announce strike and protest for today

The tear gas affected passers-by and commuters in a 2km radius of the high court and traffic on Mall Road remained jammed most of the day. Around a dozen lawyers were taken to Mayo Hospital where they were treated for minor bruises received during the clash with the security personnel. A few policemen were also slightly injured.

The lawyers then staged a sit-in in front of the judges’ gate. LHCBA president Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali and Lahore Bar Association president Chaudhry Tanvir Akhtar led the demonstration. They shouted slogans against the chief justice and demanded a larger bench to recall the arrest warrants issued for Advocate Qureshi.

Speaking at the sit-in, Pakistan Bar Council member Ishtiaq A. Khan claimed that the high court did not have the jurisdiction to initiate contempt proceedings against a lawyer involved in alleged misconduct. He argued that respective bar councils were the appropriate forums to deal with such cases under the Legal Practitioner & Bar Councils Act 1973.

At around 7pm, LBA president Mr Akhtar announced an end to the sit-in with the call for a complete strike today (Tuesday) and another protest.

Multan police carried out several raids on Monday to arrest Advocate Qureshi on directions of the LHC.

A police team led by acting City Police Officer Chaudhry Muhammad Saleem arrived at the office of the LHCBA, situated on the premises of the high court building, and raided the office of the president. However, Advocate Qureshi was not there. Separately, Cantt police raided a building in the Qasim Bela area but were unable to find the lawyer.

The police were then told that Advocate Qureshi was leading a demonstration of lawyers at Katchehry Chowk to protest police action against lawyers in Lahore. They went to arrest him, but by the time they arrived at the demonstration, the LHCBA Multan president had left.

“Mr Qureshi will not appear before the court as he did not commit contempt of court and the action being taken by the chief justice is mala fide and illegal,” former president of the LHCBA’s Multan bench, Qamarul Zaman Butt, said.

He said the incident had occurred in Multan so only Justice Qasim Khan, who Advocate Qureshi had reportedly misbehaved with, could initiate contempt proceedings. He added that their protest would continue till the LHC withdrew the contempt notice to Mr Qureshi.

On the other hand, Advocate Shahbaz Ali Gormani of the professional lawyers’ group, demanded that the LHC chief justice take strict action against the lawyers committing contempt of court and obstructing provision of justice to the masses. “The Pakistan Bar Council and the Punjab Bar Council should cancel the licences of the lawyers defaming the judiciary,” he said.

Many senior lawyers took to social media to condemn, what they termed was, hooliganism at the LHC, and # AdvocatesforRuleofLaw remained trending throughout the day on Twitter.

Senior lawyer of the Supreme Court Advocate Salman Akram Raja tweeted: “Sad day today with the political leaders of the legal profession acting to destroy the rule of law in the country.”

Advocate Ahmad Rafay Alam tweeted: “As a lawyer, I condemn the attack on Lahore High Court & lawyers who participated in it. This hooliganism must end.”

On Monday morning, a five-judge larger bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah resumed hearing of the contempt case against Advocate Qureshi and Advocate Syed Qaiser Abbas Kazmi, who had been given a last warning to appear in court at the previous hearing. While Advocate Kazmi appeared before the court, Advocate Qureshi chose to stay away.

Punjab Advocate General Shakilur Rehman Khan also was present in the court but no one had appeared on behalf of the Bar.

Keeping in view the consistent defiance demonstrated by Advocate Qureshi, the bench issued non-bailable arrest warrants with directions to the Multan RPO to ensure his presence before the court today (Tuesday). The bench also suspended his licence to practice law under Rule 1, Part-A, Chapter-6, Volume-V of the Rules and Orders of the LHC. Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza were the other members of the larger bench.

Sources said that Chief Justice Shah and other members of the bench also held a meeting with Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar at the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court where they discussed the case during a two-hour meeting. The sources said that they had resolved to ensure the supremacy of law and to protect the dignity of both institutions — the bench and the bar.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2017