ISLAMABAD, Aug 9: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) announced on Saturday that the authority to lead all lawyers’ movements rested with it and no other body, including the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), had the right to go solo or give “derogatory statements” against the council.

A special meeting of the PBC, presided over by its vice-chairman Saiyed Rehman, adopted a resolution saying that being the apex statutory body, only the PBC could decide about a future strategy for lawyers’ movement.

Led by Senator Sardar Latif Khosa, five other members of the council — former PBC vice-chairman Mirza Aziz Akbar Beg, Chaudhry Ramzan, Shafqat Abbasi, Kazim Khan and Chaudhry Ashraf Wahla — signed the requisition request for the meeting.

“The decision was unanimous and we reaffirmed that all other bodies of the lawyers are subservient to it and no association or bar can call any long march, convention, conference or symposium without prior approval of the council,” Senator Khosa told Dawn after the meeting.

Except Qazi Anwar who was busy, Yousaf Leghari who has become Advocate General of Sindh and Imdad Ali Awan who died recently, all members of the 22-member body, including Law Minister Farooq Naek, attended the meeting.

Mr Khosa rejected a perception that two or three members, including Ali Ahmed Kurd, had opposed the resolution and said the meeting was called to discuss the recent All Pakistan Lawyers Convention in Lahore which gave an Aug 14 deadline for restoration of the deposed judges. It also discussed a statement of SCBA chief Aitzaz Ahsan that the Rs50 million grant to the PBC was bribe by the government to sabotage the lawyer’s movement.

“Many of us wanted to summon Mr Ahsan to explain his statement, but the meeting decided to condemn his remarks against the PCB through the resolution,” he added.

“The grant-in-aid announced from the budgetary allocation by the prime minister through the federal law minister for the welfare of the lawyers’ community, a matter of right, calls for no adverse comments from the SCBA,” the strongly-worded resolution said.

It said the meeting was of the firm view that such statements were tantamount to creating rift and disharmony among the lawyers’ community and damage their movement. Saiyed Rehman told reporters after the meeting that the lawyers’ struggle for restoration of the deposed judges and independence of judiciary would continue.

He denied that the PBC had ever given the Aug 14 deadline.

The resolution also said that no bar association would be allowed to cancel membership of any of the PBC members or stop them from visiting the bar association. “Any defiance will render consequences under the relevant law.”

The Multan Bar recently barred Latif Khosa and some others from entering its premises.

Mr Khosa said the PBC would hold its meeting on August 23 in which all committees of the council would be reconstituted. It will also chalk out a future line of action.