Lawyers go on strike today

LAHORE: On the call of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) lawyers across the country are observing a strike today (Thursday) to show solidarity with their colleagues who were beaten by the police outside the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The lawyers will convene protest meetings, marches, and rallies in their respective bar rooms to express their dissent on this matter.

Heavy police contingents have been deployed outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) in view of likely protest by lawyers.   

The incident occurred at Mall Road, near the LHC, where the police scuffled with the lawyers who were holding a peaceful protest against the notification to transfer cases to the “Model Town katchery” and the unjustified registration of terrorism cases against their fraternity.

They had also announced they would hold a meeting inside the LHC today as well as at the Aiwan-e-Adal.  

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Similarly, in a show of solidarity with their colleagues in Lahore who were baton-charged, teargassed and later bundled into prison vans, all courts in Karachi too will remain closed today.

All litigants who came to the city courts today were stopped at the main gate and were not allowed to go inside.

Prisoners, too, will not be produced in courts today due to the strike.

Police in Lahore arrested several lawyers after breaking up their protest outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) which turned violent during which the law-enforcers lathi-charged and tear-gassed the black coats on Wednesday.

The police fired tear-gas shells and lathi-charged the lawyers who wanted to enter the chief justice’s block in the LHC to register their protest against the registration of cases against their colleagues under terrorism-related sections and consequently their arrests, and also against shifting of some courts to different locations.

The lawyers, in return, threw stones at the heavy police contingent which seemed to be in no mood to spare them.  

The police closed the gates of the high court in order to prevent the entry of protesters into its premises.