RAWALPINDI: A clash between a civil judge and a lawyer led to the registration of an attempted murder case against the former on Sunday night.

Some lawyers were also booked on charges of hurling threats on the judge, violence and obstructing him from performing his official duty.

The clash between the judge and the lawyer took place on July 1 and a formal report was registered on the daily diary of the Civil Lines police soon after the incident.

Since then lawyers have locked the doors of the district courts in protest and are not allowing the police in uniform to enter the premises and present under-trial prisoners before the courts.

“We have to wear plainclothes while taking prisoners to the courts,” a police official said.

He said lawyers had been demanding registration of a case under terrorism act against the civil judge but the police had registered an attempted murder case.

The complainant in the FIR was a private individual, not the lawyer.

Mohammad Younus, a resident of Dhoke Kala Khan, complained to the Civil Lines police that he was in the court of civil judge Shaukat Hayat to get his name corrected in his documents on July 1 when a lawyer started arguing with the judge over some issue.

He said during the arguments the lawyer allegedly used abusive language against the judge and threw something towards him. In response, he added, the judge allegedly threw a paperweight towards the lawyer which hit his ear, though it didn’t cause injuries to him.

In retaliation to the judge’s action, the lawyer started screaming which caught attention of other lawyers who gathered in the judge’s room. Looking at the intensity of the situation, the judge walked out of the courtroom from the backdoor whereas the lawyers left the courtroom after hurling threats on the judge and shouting slogans.

Mr Younus said in the FIR that he also left the courtroom for the safety of his life and later went to the police station.

The District Bar Association has demanded dismissal of the civil judge and registration of an FIR against him on the charges of attempted murder as well section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2019