LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Wednesday issued notices on an appeal of a Jaranwala lawyer convicted of injuring a civil judge by hitting him with a wooden chair and also summoned complete record of the case.

The courtroom was packed with lawyers before the bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi resumed its proceedings with the arguments of Advocate Burhan Moazam Malik, the counsel for the convict.

The counsel said the requisites of justice had been seriously compromised by the trial court while handing down the impugned punishment. He said the conviction was beyond the facts of the incident.

Expressing concern over growing incidents of lawyers’ highhandedness, Justice Naqvi recalled that there was a video available on social media wherein lawyers were hurling abuses on judges.

Advocate Moazam said practicing licences of those lawyers had been suspended by the Punjab Bar Council.

“Hearing such abuses is no more unusual for judges,” said Justice Naqvi.

The counsel pointed out that the provincial bar council had already initiated action against the convicted lawyer and also handed him over to police but including provision of terrorism in the FIR was something beyond any logic. He said taking action against lawyers was the jurisdiction of the bar councils only.

Justice Naqvi asked the counsel whether the bar councils were superior to the high court.

The judge regretted that he had never heard the term of wukla gardi (lawyers’ highhandedness) in the past.

“But now we have been branded as terrorists,” the counsel made a complaint.

“Whether hitting a judge with a chair amounts to contempt of court simply,” the judge further asked the counsel.

The judge observed that a handful of black sheep hijacked the legal fraternity.

“Do you know that the parents of foreign qualified lawyers advise them not to practice before trial courts only because of hostile working environment over there,” the judge asked the counsel.

Advocate Moazam conceded and said the bar resolved to show zero tolerance against misconduct by the lawyers.

The bench adjourned further hearing till June 3 and summoned the case record.

An anti-terrorism court of Faisalabad awarded last week a collective imprisonment of 18 years to Advocate Imran Manj under section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and other sections of Pakistan Penal Code. In a last month’s incident, the convict had attacked Civil Judge Khalid Mahmood for not extending him favour in a personal criminal case. The injured judge was shifted to hospital for treatment.

On Tuesday, a division bench comprising Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry and Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun had recused itself from the appeal of Manj citing personal reasons. Later, the chief justice entrusted the appeal to the bench comprising Justice Naqvi and Justice Waheed Khan.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2019