ISLAMABAD, Dec 26: A group of lawyers will provide legal support to a British psychiatrist who has complained to the Pakistan Bar Council that activist Habib Wahabul Khairi has defrauded him of 2,000 pounds sterling.
It may be mentioned that Mr Khairi has filed an application before the Supreme Judicial Council for initiating a reference against three judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, for misconduct.
Advocate Raja Abdur Rehman, on whose petition the Supreme Court had stayed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education, president of the Federal Capital Lawyer’s Forum Roy Mohammad Nawaz Kharal and a few other lawyers told reporters that they were moving a contempt of court petition against Mr Khairi for using ‘intemperate language’ in his complaint against the apex court judges.
A sedition case will also be filed against Mr Khairi for allegedly inviting the armed forces to step in and wrap up the democratically-elected government, through a petition which was not entertained by the Supreme Court.
They said they would render legal support to Dr Samad Hashmi’s complaint, which was faxed on Friday bearing the date of Dec 26, if taken up by the disciplinary committee of the PBC.
The psychiatrist has accused Mr Khairi of being possibly involved in money laundering and financial fraud.
Employed by the National Heath Service in the United Kingdom, Dr Hashmi alleged that during the course of legal proceedings with his ex-wife, who happens to be the daughter of a retired but highly influential bureaucrat in Islamabad, he had received a bill from Mr Khairi of 2,000 pounds in January 2008 through Devereux and Co Solicitors in the UK for representing his ex-wife.
“Mr Khairi has failed to provide any bank transaction or any legal paperwork in respect of this payment even after several reminders,” the complaint said.
According to the bill, Mr Khairi received the amount which was increased to pounds 2,175 when he provided the breakdown of his legal services.
Mr Khairi has not yet provided any evidence that this transaction has legally taken place in Pakistan and therefore raising serious concerns, the complaint said.
In case, this payment has been made in pound sterling, bypassing the legal system then Mr Khairi is liable to be investigated under money laundering laws.
Alternatively, if Mr Khairi has sent this bill as a favour to the retired bureaucrat, then he has committed a financial fraud, the complaint said.
Talking to Dawn, Mr Khairi denied having received pounds 2,000 from Mr Hashmi but conceded that he had sent a bill for his legal advice to his ex-wife who was a defendant in the case.