ISLAMABAD, April 11: The Supreme Court on Friday suspended the operation of Lahore High Court chief justice’s administrative order, wherein he asked about 50 lawyers to vacate their offices situated at the State Bank Building at Fan Road, Lahore.

The LHC chief justice, through an administrative order on March 21, 2003, had ordered about 50 lawyers to vacate their offices as the high court had purchased the land from Evacuee Board in 1996.

After this around eight lawyers had filed a petition in the apex court.

Petitioner’s counsel Malik Qayyum contended that his clients were occupying the offices since 1960 and if the department wanted to sell the building, they should be given the first chance to purchase those.

A Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bhagwandas and Syed Deedar Hussain Shah, stayed the operation of LHC chief justice order.

When a member of the bench observed that petitioners should have filed a civil suit, the counsel said that no court would hear the matter as it was related to the order of chief justice of Lahore High Court, under whose control were all the eight petitioners: Chaudhry Ashraf Wahla, Syed Ahmad Saeed Kirmani, Syed Afzal Haider, Khawar Akram Bhatti, Ms Robeena Sulehri, Zulfikar Ali Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad Baig and B.A Fakhri.

Petitioners counsel Malik Qayyum is a former judge of the LHC, who now practices law in the Supreme Court and high courts, except the LHC. He had resigned when the apex court made adverse observations about him and Justice Rashid Aziz Khan on an appeal of Ms Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.