ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (SCBA) and different bar councils and associations on Monday condemned and rejected a smear campaign launched against the judges of superior judiciary.

In a joint statement, SCBA president Mohammad Ahsan Bhoon, PBC vice chairman Hafeezur Rehman Chaudhary and other representatives of the legal fraternity regretted that the sullied campaign had been launched allegedly at the behest of the leadership of a particular political party.

This party, they added, has just lost the majority in parliament through a democratic process and now it is resorting to pass derogatory and contemptuous remarks and statements against the judges in open public rallies and congregations.

Without any stretch of imagination, it is obvious that the purpose of this smear campaign is to pressurise the judiciary so as to achieve unconstitutional and undemocratic agendas and to further polarise society, they regretted.

The entire legal fraternity has its full confidence over the decisions of the apex courts, fully endorsed the same and shall not allow anyone to twist arms against the country’s institutions.

About the so-called accusation being continuously alleged by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan regarding the midnight opening of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Islamabad High Court, the entire legal fraternity fully endorsed and welcomed the opening of the courts as it prevented and failed all the likely unconstitutional and unlawful conspiracies and deterred all the undemocratic and unconstitutional elements, eyeing to take advantage of political turmoil. However, the way Imran Khan is accusing the courts, it appears that he and his party is on a collision course with the state institutions and wanted to indulge in something extra-constitutional, they plead.

While condemning the smear campaign against the judges and the judiciary in strongest possible terms, SCBA secretary Waseem Mumtaz Malik also stated that no one has the right to malign the dignity of judges for petty political gains.

Anyone can express his/her disagreement with the judgement but no one is free to harm the respect of judges, he cautioned.

He said if such malicious social media propaganda does not end, the legal fraternity reserves the right to take punitive action against the people behind it.

He said the legal fraternity is firmly standing with the judiciary and would continue its struggle for upholding the rule of law.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022