FAISALABAD, March 27 All civil judges have applied for a one-month leave, appealing to the Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice to transfer them to any other station because working conditions are not conducive for them, especially after the manhandling of a civil judge by a lawyer a few days ago.

Sources told Dawn that civil judges met at the residence of District and Sessions Judge Sohail Nasir on Friday night and unanimously decided to apply for one-month earned leave through proper channel, requesting the competent authority to transfer all of them to any other station after the expiry of their leave period.

Sources privy to the meeting said the civil judges requested the sessions judge that resuming duties in Faisalabad was not possible for them owing to security threat as lawyers could any time humiliate any one of them. Owing to this precarious situation, they were of the view that they should get them transferred from here to any other station in the province.

The civil judges said they were struggling for the prestige of the judiciary as slapping a civil judge was not a petty issue. They said they stood united over the issue. It's our common cause rather than any one's personal, they added.The judges after the meeting handed over their leave applications to the session judge for onward transmission to the LHC chief justice.

Sources said the competent authority had not sanctioned their leave as yet. Earlier, the judges were on leave on Friday and Saturday.

Sources said the civil judges would meet again to devise the future course of action if their leave applications were rejected or deferred.

All judges of Faisalabad district have not been performing their duties since March 22 after a lawyer, Liaqat Javed, slapped civil judge Tariq Mehmood Kahut during the hearing of a rent matter.

The lawyers also observed a complete strike to protest the issuance of contempt of court notice to the accused lawyer by the LHC.