LAHORE: The lawyers demanding creation of new benches of the Lahore High Court in five divisions on Wednesday called off their month-long protest after Chief Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq decided to refer to the administration committee of the court their application for establishment of registry counters at divisional headquarters.

A delegation comprising the Punjab Bar Council vice chairman and presidents of respective bar associations of Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Sahiwal and Dera Ghazi Khan called on the chief justice and presented the application.

A circular issued by the LHC registrar said the chief justice was pleased to direct the authority concerned to place the application for registry counters within one week before the administration committee for consideration as the matter required necessary amendment in the relevant “High Court Rules and Orders”.

The lawyers in the five divisions had been protesting for the creation of new benches of the LHC for the last one month.

During their protests, the lawyers also turned violent and resorted to ransacking public property and government offices.

They also locked down courts in their respective divisions, causing immense problem to the litigant public.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2018