PESHAWAR, Jan 1: Lawyers manhandled an advocate from Lahore on Tuesday who what they called violated the their decision of boycotting superior courts by appearing before the high court.

Advocate Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, stated to be a close relative of the former Lahore High Court’s chief justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, visited Peshawar and appeared in a writ petition before a two-member bench comprising Justice Hamid Farooq Durrani and Justice Alam Khan. Witnesses said that when the lawyers, who have been observing a boycott of the high court since Nov 3, was informed of the lawyer’s appearance before the court, they rushed towards him.

The enraged lawyers chased Mr Chaudhry from the high court up to the Justice Square, caught him there, and shoved him badly. He was only allowed to leave when he held out an assurance that he would never appear before the court in future.

The lawyers raised slogans in favour of former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and against President Pervez Musharraf.

The Vice President of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Mian Abdul Fayyaz, told journalists that the decision of Lawyers National Action Committee was clear about boycotting superior courts and they would not allow anyone to violate the decision. Mr Fayyaz said none of the lawyers in Peshawar have been appearing before the High Court and Supreme Court registry and they would not let anyone from outside come here and work against their interests.