LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad said on Tuesday the bar and the bench were part and parcel of the justice system and could not survive without each other, adding that both lawyers and judges always had complaints against each other, but this should not be a bone of contention between them.

The chief justice expressed these views responding to the concerns about judges’ dealing with lawyers, expressed by the Pakistan Bar Council’s member, Ahsan Bhoon, at a function organised by the Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) to present the draft of ‘Protection of Advocates (laws amendment) Bill’ 2021.

CJP Gulzar said the judges always tried to deliver a decision based on justice.

He said the legal fraternity needed support as it faced serious financial constraints during the pandemic. The provisions mentioned in the draft of the bill should be enforced for the protection and welfare of lawyers, he added. He assured lawyers of his full support in getting the bill passed by the parliament.

LHC CJ advises lawyers to plead cases decently

However, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti raised questions on the draft of the proposed bill prepared by the PbBC, saying the lawyers should also ponder on the reasons that made them propose the law.

“Why was this law not needed 20 years ago,” he raised a question, saying the lawyers were also responsible for the current situation as they resorted to danda sota (sticks/a symbol violence).

Justice Bhatti said a lawyer should be soft spoken while pleading a case before the court.

He lauded the PbBC role in controlling the incidents of misbehaviour with judges by lawyers.

He urged the lawyers to restore the tradition of ‘chamber practice’ for the entrants to the legal profession before letting them appear before the courts.

He regretted that the candidates in the elections of the bars engaged even law students in their campaigns.

The judge highlighted the gravity of the situation by citing an incident occurring in Faisalabad in which a lawyer shot his client dead.

He said the bar demanded, in the bill, protection for lawyers against police, but did not insert any provision to make the lawyers behave decently in the courts.

Justice Bhatti said decisions were being made purely on merit, adding: “My doors are open for all.”

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2021