KARACHI: Thousands of litigants and undertrial prisoners faced hardships due to suspension of legal proceedings at City Courts for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday, as lawyers locked the entrance gates and courtrooms of judges restraining them from entering the judicial complex, witnesses told Dawn.

For the last four days, lawyers have been boycotting legal proceedings and they also clashed with judicial staff.

District and Sessions Judge (East) Khalid Hussain Shahani on Saturday submitted his report to the Sindh High Court chief justice regarding the ongoing strike by the lawyers and their clash with judicial staff.

DJ Shahani stated that two days ago, members of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) attempted to encroach upon an open plot reserved for judges’ car parking near the treasury block of the City Courts. He further stated that the KBA members and lawyers, including Raja Irfan, Majid, Azhar, Faheem and 25 others severely beat up watchman Faisal.

The judge said 25 to 30 lawyers again beat up Faisal and dragged him to the City Courts’ police station, where he was illegally confined while the SHO failed to rescue him.

He deplored that the lawyers took the law into their own hands as they kept the judges and staff hostage by locking the judges’ gate of East-district and by parking vehicles in front of the gate.

“The judges remained wrongfully restrained till 7pm on June 1, then police arrived and after negotiation with the members of Karachi Bar, they got the gate opened. Surprisingly, the police did not take legal action, but persuaded the miscreants to open the gates.”

The judge deplored that on Saturday, the KBA members and other lawyers locked all the courts and chambers of the judges and entrance gates disallowing judges from entering the courts’ premises and discharging their duties.

On the other hand, a KBA statement stated that in continuation of its resolution passed earlier against DJ-East Khalid Shahani, KBA members “will not appear before the courts until the transfer and initiation of disciplinary proceedings against Khalid Hussain Shahani, D&SJ East”.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2022