ISLAMABAD, Oct 18: The Pakistan Bar Council on Saturday rejected resolutions passed by different bar associations of the country banning entry of senior government functionaries into bars’ premises and cancelling their membership. It warned of a disciplinary action if the step was repeated.
The PBC action exposed a widening rift between the highest legal body and the legal community.
Bar associations of Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore and Multan reportedly banned the entry of Law Minister Farooq H. Naek and Attorney General Senator Sardar Mohammad Latif Khan Khosa into bar premises and cancelled their membership after accusing them of conspiring to undermine the lawyers’ movement.
On Saturday the executive and the appeal committees of the PBC held a hurriedly-called joint meeting to take notice of the situation and declared resolutions of different bar associations as arbitrary and smacking of mala fide intentions.
Although an announcement of the PBC mentioned no name of participants, an insider privy to the meeting told Dawn that Ashraf Wahla advocate presided over the meeting. Other participants of the meeting were PBC vice-chairman Haji Syed Rehman, former vice-chairman Mirza Aziz Akbar Beg, Pervez Inayat Malik, Kazim Khan, Chaudhry Ramzan and Shafqat Abbasi.
On Oct 8, the PBC executive committee suspended licences of two office-bearers of the Multan High Court Bar Association and referred to the disciplinary committee of the bar a complaint against them for allegedly misbehaving with the attorney general.
On Sept 23, Sindh High Court Bar Association President Rasheed A. Razvi had accused both the law minister and the attorney general of manipulating the PBC to sabotage the lawyers’ movement.“This is unfortunate as the warning given to lawyers would be taken in bad taste and would not be a good omen for the unity of the legal community,” a senior lawyer said.
While expressing dismay over the resolutions passed by different bar associations, the meeting termed the situation “deplorable” and said some bar associations had passed such resolutions on their own.
Taking a serious notice of the resolutions, the meeting said that such “arbitrary” actions of the bar associations were without lawful authority and against relevant provisions of law. “The bar associations are not competent to pass such resolutions and take actions, as such actions smack of mala fide and are politically motivated and aimed at taking political advantage in favour of some particular candidates in forthcoming elections of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA),” the meeting said.