ISLAMABAD, Nov 2: Differences between pro- and anti-government groups in Islamabad High Court Bar Association on Wednesday intensified as its president disowned an invitation extended by the association’s general secretary to the newly-elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
The IHCBA president also requested Yasin Azad, the SCBA president, not to visit the Islamabad High Court on his secretary's call on Wednesday.
It was the second time when IHCBA president Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf of the anti-PPP-led government group of lawyers challenged his opponent group in a month.
In the third week of October, Mr Ashraf moved a resolution to ban the entry of Babar Awan in the IHC. The resolution was adopted by the lawyers despite stiff resistance and boycott by IHCBA general secretary Shakeel Abbasi who belongs to Babar Awan group and is also heading the People's Lawyers Forum in the federal capital.
Mr Ashraf on Wednesday held a press conference against Mr Abbasi's invitation to the SCBA president and said in accordance with the bar rules it was the prerogative of the president to invite any guest.
He said the bar's general secretary had invited Mr Azad without consulting him. “I have already invited Asma Jahangir soon after the Eid holidays and also am planning to invite Mr Azad on the same day,” he added.
He said the SCBA president was elected because of his professional association, adding the elections of bar association were held in a professional manner and it should not be linked with political affiliation.
But some elements are trying to claim it as a victory of the PPP-led government as Ghulam Farooq Awan, the younger brother of Babar Awan and adviser to the prime minister, was also planning to join Mr Azad at the IHC, he added.
Mr Ashraf also criticised Babar Awan for what he said creating divisions among the lawyers. He alleged that during the IHCBA elections this year Mr Awan had offered some 250 posts of legal consultants to lawyers to influence the election process.
Answering a question about recent appointments in the IHC, Mr Ashraf said all appointments in the IHC, and other high courts too, should be made in accordance with the prescribed rules.
Talking to Dawn, Raja Inam Ameen Minhas, former general secretary IHCBA, said the differences were the result of traditional rivalry of anti-and pro-government groups.
He said it was not the prerogative of the president but that of the executive body of the bar association to decide matters regarding inviting guests and stopping entry of any unwanted personality into the court premises.
According to him, imposing a ban on Babar Awan's entry into the court could be understandable but Mr Azad was not a political figure. He is the elected SCBA president and for the sake of lawyers’ unity Mr Ashraf should own the invitation of hissecretary.
Shakeel Abbasi, general secretary IHCBA, told Dawn that he did not invite Mr Azad to IHC.
He, however, said some elected office-bearers of SCBA were invited to celebrate their victory in the IHC but the programme was cancelled due to their unavailability.