ISLAMABAD: A committee, comprising three senior judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC), declined to issue fitness certificates to nine lawyers for their enrollment as advocates of the Supreme Court.

Out of the nine, two lawyers were nominated in the First Information Report (FIR) registered in connection with the February 8 attack on the chamber of the IHC chief justice.

The IHC committee comprised senior puisne judge Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

It examined cases of 35 advocates of the high court.

Those nominated in the FIR were Rao Abdul Raheem and Mohammad Asif Gujjar.

However, advocate Asif Irfan, who was also nominated in the FIR, has been cleared by the committee.

Dozens of lawyers on February 8 laid siege to the courtroom and the chamber of IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, virtually keeping him hostage for about three hours.

They barged into the offices of the secretary to the IHC chief justice and his auxiliary staff, broke windows and even the doors of the Chief Justice Block.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2021