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| India-Pakistan |
| Boycotts bring Pakistan's judiciary to a halt |
| 2010-03-28 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Pakistani judiciary, engaged in a do-or-die battle for gaining independence from the executive and legislature, received another jolt this week as both judges and lawyers took positions against each other to boycott the courts and stage protests after a lawyer slapped and manhandled a judge while he was holding the court. The incident happened on March 22 in Faisalabad, the industrial hub of Punjab province also dubbed as Manchester of Pakistan for its vast industrial base, about 300 kilometers south of Islamabad but it soon spread across the largest province, Punjab, as the courts reopened on March 24 following the holiday of Pakistan Day. Reacting to the aggressive attack, the judges belonging to subordinate judiciary stopped the work demanding immediate and stern action against the lawyer Liaqat Javed who slapped the Civil Judge Tariq Mahmood, terming it extremely outrageous and devastating for the prestige of judiciary. The judges led by the Sessions Judge of the District, not only shut down courts for few hours as token boycott but also wore black armbands as mark of protest, pressing for their demands of exemplary legal action against the lawyer and cancellation of his license. With another day passed the judges began tendering resignations as close to one hundred of them submitted their resignations in different cities of Punjab. This forced the Lahore High Court to take suo moto notice of the situation by ordering registration of contempt of court case against the lawyer. However, the lawyer could not be arrested as he fled from home. Authorities feared a possible clash between the judges and lawyers, the two arms of the judiciary, as lawyers boycotted the courts and staged protests demanding the withdrawal of contempt of court case against the accused lawyer. The lawyers' defiant posture against the judges has brought the institution of judiciary at crossroads again where it is faced with an enemy from within, the lawyers community. The judiciary had regained much of its independence as a result of a glorious mass movement over past few years which saw the exit of former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf and restoration of judges whom he had illegally sacked, The anti-Musharraf mass movement for judges' restoration is believed to have emboldened certain elements among the lawyers community. There have reports of repeated attacks from lawyers on the media men, police officials, and their repeated attempts to pressure a court to release on bail a lawyer leader accused of torturing to death a minor-aged housemaid. "Such incidents not only brought bad name to legal fraternity but also posed a serious question mark on the future of judiciary's independence since these lawyers rise to become judges," said a former vice chairman of Punjab Bar Council Hamid Khan. He expressed sorrow over the rising incidents of the hooliganism by lawyers saying it was most unfortunate for the judiciary with which the poor masses have pinned fresh hopes following its revival against the iron hands of military and civil establishment. A senior official requesting anonymity said the incident of slapping the judge was "totally outrageous and uncalled for" since the judge, hearing a loan default case, refused to release the accused on bail as requested by the lawyer who insisted that the amount had already been deposited. The judge ruled against the request observing that the case record had no mention of such payment. This flared the lawyer up and he started abusing the judge, and suddenly rushed to the rostrum and reportedly slapped the judge repeatedly. The judge was rescued by court officials and lawyers. As the reports of judges resignations keep pouring in from all major cities of the province with every passing day, the situation seems to be going from bad to worse as the accused lawyer was still at large despite that four days past issuing arrest warrants against him. The Lahore High Court has ordered the police to arrest the lawyer [Liaqat Javed ] till March 30, the day when the court is scheduled to resume the suo moto proceedings against him. |
| Posted by:Fred |