ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday issued notices to 21 lawyers for misconduct in connection with an attack on the Chief Justice Block and detaining the IHC judges on Feb 8.

A three-member bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Lubna Saleem Pervez, took up a complaint filed by the IHC registrar against 21 lawyers - Naseer Ahmed Kayani, Tasadduq Hanif, Hammad Saeed Dar, Khalid Mehmood Khan, Ahsan Hameed Gujjar, Akhtar Hussain, Shaista Tabassum, Asad Khan, Faiser Jadoon, Hafiz Malik Mazhar Javed, Khalid Taj, Naveed Hayat Malik, Nazia Abbasi, Nusrat Parveen, Raja Amjad, Raja Khurram Farrukh, Zahid Mehmood Raja, Younas Kayani, Mohammad Umar, Moin Bazai and Pir Fida.

During the hearing, Justice Minallah appreciated the stance taken by Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and Islamabad Bar Council as both condemned the Feb 8 attacks and expressed solidarity with the bench.

Justice Minallah remarked that the bench also had confidence in the bar associations but on Feb 8 elected representatives of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) appeared to be helpless against the unruly mob.

He said the PBC while condemning the rowdy lawyers had asked the IHC to forward a reference against them so the regulator may proceed against them in accordance with the Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Rules 2017 and Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Act 1973.

He said the regulatory bodies had also assured him that dignity of the legal profession could not be compromised for a handful of lawyers who had brought the legal fraternity to disrepute.

Chief justice appreciates stance taken by lawyers’ bodies on Feb 8 attack on IHC

IHCBA President Chaudhry Haseeb consented to taking action against the lawyers responsible for the rampage but requested the court to involve the lawyers’ bodies in the proceedings against the enrolled advocates.

Justice Minallah remarked that in response to his letter of Feb 11, the PBC on Feb 15 had highlighted the role of the legal fraternity in the context of the struggle for supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law.

The court noted that the alleged acts of misconduct related to the storming of IHC on Feb 8 by a mob of enrolled advocates.

“All of them are known to the respective bars. The mob, after breaking open the main door of the Chief Justice Block, resorted to vandalising and desecrating public property. The acts of violence, vandalism and resort to hooliganism by enrolled advocates in uniform amounted to grave misconduct.”

The chief justice and judges were held hostage for more than four hours. Judicial proceedings remained suspended for the rest of the day.

The litigants were deprived of their rights and thus dispensation of justice was disrupted.

“The mob of enrolled advocates had obviously attempted to overpower the judicial organ of the state. They were later joined by a few enrolled advocates who were present in the high court at the time of the storming,” the court order stated.

By taking the law into their own hands, the enrolled advocates have exposed themselves to disciplinary proceedings under the Act of 1973, the order said, adding the PBC and the Islamabad Bar Council, while acknowledging the incident had suggested that references be sent by the court for further disciplinary proceedings.

The bench noted that “though it was a preliminary fixation of the matter today, the presidents and office-bearers of IHCBA and the Islamabad District Bar Association, respectively, have appeared along with a large number of members of the bar.

They have strongly condemned the incident and shown their resolve to make those enrolled advocates accountable who were involved in the storming of the high court.”

The court acknowledged their declaration of commitment to upholding dignity of the profession.

The registrar office has identified more than 150 enrolled advocates alleged to have been involved in the incident.

“However, at this stage, we put to notice 21 enrolled advocates who are alleged to have been involved in the incident,” the court said.

Meanwhile, five benches of the IHC commenced hearing on the show-cause notices issued to 32 lawyers for contempt of court. The benches reissued the notices to the lawyers since they were not in attendance and put off further hearing.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2021