Security concerns raised by two gun attacks inside the Judicial Complex within a week brought Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan on a surprise visit to the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar High Court on Wednesday and a call to lawyers to come to the complex unarmed.General Secretary Ameenur Rehman of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) said the call went out from the Executive Council of the lawyers that reviewed the security situation following the gunning down of two under-trial prisoners by rivals on the hallowed grounds on April 20 and 26.
PHCBA council noted that several lawyers come to the courts carrying their licenced pistols for safety. The meeting directed all such members to abandon this practice.
On his surprise visit to the complex, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan took serious notice of security lapses there and ordered more security measures for providing protection to litigants and others attending the courts.
The chief justice toured both the old and new parts of the Judicial Complex to assess the security environment.
According to a blurb, Justice Ejaz Afzal visited every nook and corner of the complex and examined all the entry points wherefrom any myrmidon equipped with arms and ammunition could sneak into the complex.
He directed the Provincial Building Maintenance Cell to raise the level of boundary walls of the complex and install sufficient grills and barbed wires to obstruct any unauthorised entry into the complex.
The PHC's Registrar Syed Mussadiq Hussain Gilani, district and sessions judge Ziauddin Khattak, Peshawar District Bar Association's office-bearers and lawyers accompanied the chief justice during his visit.
Capital City Police Officer Liaquat Ali had told the registrar a day earlier that the police officials whose negligence was blamed for the two fatal shootings had been suspended.
The officer assured the high court that the security of the Judicial Complex would be strengthened on priority basis.
According to the statement, the high court had held a detailed meeting with the SSP (coordination), officials of Communication and Works Department and all other concerned on Dec 7, 2010 and it was decided that a detailed floor-wise security plan would be provided by the SSP along with detailed standard operating procedures to facilitate all the concerned in the Judicial Complex. However,
The contradictory
However...
the said security plan and SOPs were yet to be finalised.