KARACHI: Lawyers on Monday disrupted the proceedings of the model criminal trial courts established in the metropolis in line with a decision of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee to conduct ‘swift trials’ in old criminal cases, judicial staff said.

A group of lawyers, including representatives of the Karachi Bar Association, led by its president Naeem Qureshi reportedly went to the model criminal trial courts of districts South, East and Central at the City Courts at around 9am and asked the judges to stop hearing the cases, they said.

The staffers said the lawyers also presented copies of a resolution passed by the Pakistan Bar Council and told the judges that the PBC had denounced the establishment of the model courts and had also called for boycotting their proceedings being hurriedly conducted on a day-to-day basis.

They also asked the lawyers, who were appearing on behalf of the state, the accused or other parties, to stop appearing before the model courts else their licence of practice would be cancelled for violating the top regulatory body’s decisions.

The staffers said the judges went to their chambers over the disruption of the proceedings in protest against the behaviour of the lawyers.

Read more: Model courts in each district to conduct day-to-day hearing, says CJP

When contacted, KBA president Naeem Qureshi told Dawn that their top regulatory body had denounced the decisions of the NJPMC, including the establishment of the model courts as the proceedings were being conducted “hurriedly” by these courts without fulfilling the legal formalities of the process of the trials and justice. He said they requested the judges to stop conducting proceedings as the PBC had passed a resolution in that regard and also asked the lawyers not to plead the cases in those courts.

Mr Qureshi added that they had filed an application with the Sindh Bar Council to cancel the licence of a lawyer for violating the PBC’s decision.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2019