• Police stop SHCBA, KBA rallies at PIDC roundabout
• Roadblocks cause traffic mess in district South
• Ministers meet lawyers’ bodies, give assurances on protection of Karoonjhar Hills

KARACHI: The legal fraternity on Wednesday took out rallies and staged demonstrations near the Chief Minister House demanding withdrawal of an appeal of Sindh government challenging a judgement of the Sindh High Court handed down for the protection and preservation of the Karoonjhar mountain range.

The confrontation between police and lawyers’ rallies, separately organised by the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and Karachi Bar Association (KBA), led to the suspension of vehicular traffic on Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road for hours and a severe traffic congestion on adjacent roads in district South.

After marching through various thoroughfares, the protesting lawyers staged sit-ins at the PIDC roundabout, as a heavy contingent of police was already deployed there, and containers had been placed to stop them from reaching the CM House.

They also demanded immediate steps for the protection and preservation of the Karoonjhar hills. Later, the lawyers ended their demonstrations after two provincial ministers, along with other government officials, held negotiations with representatives of the SHCBA and KBA and assured them that their demands would be met soon.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that they persuaded the lawyers not to hold a protest sit-in outside the CM House because of the visit of two foreign delegations.

He said roads leading to the CM House were already barricaded, and lawyers were asked to hold their demonstration at PIDC instead of the CM House.

Subsequently, the police authorities engaged them in talks, and a delegation of lawyers comprising representatives of the SHCBA held a meeting with the home minister at the CM House, where they expressed their “reservations”.

Both bar associations had announced that rallies would be taken out to march on the CM House and stage sit-ins to press the provincial government to withdraw its appeal filed against a landmark judgement of the SHC handed down in October 2023 on the preservation of Karoonjhar hills.

The appeal was filed before the Supreme Court during the interim setup in the province, and after the enactment of the 27th Amendment, the matter was transferred to the newly-established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) and fixed for hearing on Wednesday.

SHCBA protest

The SHCBA’s rally started in the morning from the SHC, but could not reach the CM House due to huddles and gathered at PIDC Chowk where SHCBA president Barrister Sarfaraz Metlo and representatives addressed the demonstrators.

They called upon the provincial government to withdraw its appeal and warned that the lawyers would hold another protest after 15 days if their demand was not met.

Barrister Metlo, along with other representatives of the SHCBA, later visited the CM House for negotiations with the government, following which the lawyers ended the protest.

After the meeting, Barrister Metlo told media persons that they had met Sindh Law Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar and claimed that the minister had assured him that the government would withdraw its appeal and committed to declaring the Karoonjhar Mountain range a national heritage site.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the CM Office said the lawyers’ delegation presented a memorandum and their demands in writing to the law minister.

The statement quoted the memorandum as stating that the SHCBA “expresses reservations over existing and potential dangers faced by the mountain range.”

The lawyers demanded “immediate and concrete” measures for the protection, survival and upkeep of the mountain range, it added.

The law minister assured the lawyers that necessary legal, administrative and practical steps would be taken to protect all historical and environmental sites of Sindh, including Karoonjhar.

Govt mulling withdrawal of appeal: KBA

The rally of KBA also reached the PIDC roundabout shortly after the SHCBA ended their protest, and the lawyers staged a sit-in, changed slogans and delivered speeches.

Thereafter, KBA President Amir Warraich also spoke to the media and said that they have been invited for talks at the CM House, but the lawyers refused to hold talks with the law minister and demanded a “neutral senior minister” be sent by the government for talks.

He also called for the government to withdraw its appeal pertaining to Karoonjhar. “We don’t accept the Federal Constitutional Court,” Mr Warraich said, asserting that lawyers would protest “on every level for the protection of Karoonjhar”.

The KBA president claimed that the Sindh advocate general had contacted the lawyers and claimed that the provincial government was mulling withdrawing its appeal.

A delegation of the KBA later held talks with Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah at the Karachi commissioner’s office.

Mr Warraich later told the media that the lawyers had given the Sindh government 15 days, and the provincial government had assured them of withdrawing their appeal.

It may be recalled that a two-judge bench of SHC’s Hyderabad circuit had handed down a landmark judgement on the preservation of Karoonjhar hills in October 2023, calling for its protection in conformity with international guidelines.

The SHC had also ruled, “The Karoonjhar hills” are not available for excavation of any nature whatsoever except excavation for discovering historical monuments and that too after following international guidelines and the archaeological department”.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2025