MULTAN: A large group of lawyers armed with clubs ransacked the premises of the sessions courts at the new judicial complex on Wednesday in response to a protest call by the district bar association against the lack of facilities available to lawyers at the new complex.

The police — on duty at the premises as well as a contingent called in later — did not disperse the protesters or stop them from wreaking havoc on the courtrooms at any point.

Commenting on the way the protest unfolded and the police’s refusal to engage with the protesters, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah told a TV channel that the lawyers were an organised legitimate body who were pressing their demands through protest. “But this has become the order of the day,” he said, referring to the way the protest at the Faizabad interchange was handled.

Scores of lawyers gathered at the old Kutchery and left for the new judicial complex on buses. Most of the judges, including district and session judge Ameer Muhammad Khan, were attending a funeral at the time and were not present at the judicial complex.

When the lawyers arrived at the sessions court premises, they ran amok with clubs and tore down various structures, including windows and doors of the complex. The lawyers forced the court staff to vacate the rooms and proceeded to damage the tables, chairs, counters and other furniture, besides throwing away the court records.

Punjab law minister says such protests have become the order of the day

Though there was a large number of police officials deployed at the premises of the judicial complex, they chose not to interfere or stop the lawyers from getting violent. The protesting lawyers stayed at the new judicial complex for around two-and-a-half hours, breaking apart furniture and other installations, before heading back to old Kutchery.

According to the initial report, the lawyers had damaged furniture and other items in 55 courtrooms. However, no FIR of the incident was lodged till the filing of this report.

Addressing a press conference later, Judge Ameer Khan condemned the hooliganism, but insisted that people should not be worried or disappointed by such incidents. He added that the new judicial complex had 61 public washrooms, 31 safe drinking water facilities and 62 kanals of land set aside for the bar room and lawyers’ chambers. He refused to comment on the role of the police, but added that no one was above the law.

“The portrait of the Quaid-i-Azam was damaged but I do not believe that any lawyer could do that,” he said, adding that the court would remain open and judges would remain present in the courts, while lawyers would also appear before the courts.

On the other hand, the lawyers claimed that the courts had been shifted to the new judicial complex without taking them on board. They said the new complex lacked basic facilities, including lawyers’ chambers, and that caused them, and the general public, a lot of hardship. They lamented that none of their attempts to reach out to the relevant authorities had worked so far, and that their demands had not been accepted even as they continued to face problems at the new judicial complex.

According to some sources, the lawyers’ leaders were demanding money to construct their chambers, but the authorities were of the view that the chambers would be constructed by the administration and not the lawyers. They stressed that this was the main reason district bar association president Yousaf Zubair had called the protest.

Khalid Ashraf, one of the lawyers leading the protest, told journalists that the protesters he had been leading had remained peaceful, whereas the lawyers his opponents were leading had wreaked havoc at the court premises. The cell phones of most lawyers’ leaders were switched off following the incident.

Pointing out the irony of the situation, Law Minister Sanaullah said it would have been easy to control the lawyers at another time, but now a precedent had been set (at Faizabad interchange) and the lawyers were free to have their voice heard through violent protests. He added that the government was in talks with the protesting lawyers and was hopeful about reaching a consensus soon.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2017