LAHORE, July 9: The Punjab Bar Council has relegated its high-profile meeting of vice-chairmen of all provincial bars to the status of a council committee which takes care of its relations with other bar councils of the country.

The decision was taken on Friday when vice-chairmen of Sindh and NWFP councils expressed their inability to attend the meeting that the Punjab Bar Council had convened on Saturday to discuss the issue of the Gujrat bar.

The council decided that it would now hold on Saturday the meeting of its Inter-Provincial Bar Councils Relationing Committee to discuss the issue and later communicate it to other bar councils.

Dawn has learnt through sources that the vice-chairmen of Sindh and the NWFP have declined to come to Lahore because they are committed to attend a Pakistan Bar Council-sponsored meeting of the Lawyers Joint Action Committee in Islamabad on July 18.

Another reason, according to the sources, is the brightening up the chance of the resolution of the Gujrat bar conflict in a few days. It is learnt that Lahore High Court Bar Association president Ahmad Awais is in constant touch with the Punjab government for an amicable settlement of the issue. -Correspondent