LAHORE, Dec 20: Barrister Saleem Sehgal’s murder shocked the legal fraternity to a degree that its representative bodies gave a countrywide strike call for Wednesday (today).

The call was given by the Lahore High Court Bar Association through a resolution adopted by its general body on Tuesday. It was supported by the Pakistan Bar Council and the Punjab Bar Council in addition to the Lahore Bar Association. All the representative bodies condemned the government for failing in protecting the life and property.

Outgoing PBC vice-chairperson Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari told a news conference that the murder of Sehgal after the killing of Muhammad Anwar Qureshi in the month of Ramazan and murderous attempt on PBC member Muhammad Anwar Bhinder three months ago was shocking.

The PBC also held an emergency meeting to condemn the murder. It appealed to lawyers across the province not to appear in courts after 10.30am on Wednesday. Endorsing the strike, the LHCBA resolved to set up a panel of lawyers expert in criminal law to pursue the case of the deceased. It also wanted the police to constitute a team of professional officers to probe the killing.

All lawyers in the meeting were in an angry mood and hard-hitting speeches delivered by a number of them reflected that they were grossly annoyed and grief-stricken.