GILGIT: Lawyers in Gilgit-Baltistan staged a protest sit-in for acceptance of their demands and warned that they would only call off their protest and end courts boycott after their their demands are accepted.

A large number of GB lawyers gathered outside CM Secretariat in Chinarbagh Gilgit on Monday and staged the protest, which was joined by lawyers from other districts. Protesters were chanting slogans in favour of their demands and holding banners inscribed with slogans.

GB lawyers have been protesting in all districts for the last five days. Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council, GB Supreme Court Bar Association, GBHigh Court Bar Association and GB District Bar Associations have jointly given the call for protest.

GB High Court Bar Association Secretary General Islamuddin Advocatetold Dawn that the lawyers in GB have been protesting for the last ten months, boycotting court proceedings and organising protest rallies.

These demands including the long-delayed induction of judges in the GB Supreme Appellate Court, the establishment of special courts including family and consumer courts, the advertisement of vacant civil judge positions and the separation of judicial magistrate from civil judges posts as being practiced in other parts of the countrywith appointments made from the legal fraternity on merit. They also demand financial grants and allotment of plots to GB lawyers and appointments of legal advisers in government and non0government organisations in GB.

They also demand the extension of the Lawyers Protection Act to Gilgit-Baltistan. They also demanded separation of prosecutor general and advocate general offices in GB.

President GB Supreme Appellate Court Mohammad Iqbalsaid the demands of GB lawyers had been genuine and in the interest of general public. He said judges in GB Supreme Appellate Court had not been appointed for the last eight years.

He said thousands of cases mostly of public important have been pending in the highest judicial forum. He criticised GB government and said the appointment of judges in GB Supreme Appellate Court is federal government’s matter, but the federal government inducts judges on the summary moved by the GB chief minister, he said.

Iqbal said GB chief minister had not send the summary for the last four months, though the federal government had asked for it. They said that litigants in the region have been suffering due to the lawyers’ boycott of court proceedings. He said important and urgent cases are pending in the courts.

They held the GB government responsible for the failure to implement the lawyers’ demands despite their acceptance by the GB chief minister. He had issued directives to fulfill the demands which were in the domain of the GB government.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025