Lawyers boycotted Lahore High Court (LHC) proceedings on Wednesday after Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) president Pir Masood Chishti halted the proceedings of a case being heard be Justice Erum Sajjad Gul. She had refused to take up a case. Chishti had insisted on fixing the case for another date even though she told him that she had already re-listed the case and could not take up the matter again. The judge refused the ‘demand’ and asked him to leave the rostrum so that the next case could be heard. Chishti did not leave the rostrum immediately. This led to an exchange of harsh words between him and the judge. The judge then went into her retiring room. The judge had earlier granted a stay order requested by Chishti in the case.Later, Chishti visited other courtrooms, directing lawyers to boycott proceedings. He then called a meeting of the general house. The house constituted a committee to investigate the issue. The participants also decided unanimously that lawyers would boycott cases being heard by Justice Gul.Talking to reporters, Chishti said they would continue their protest till the ouster of Justice Gul or her transfer to an LHC bench in Multan, Bahawalpur or Rawalpindi.his attitude is certainly not befitting of the president of a Bar association. Rather than collectively condemning the actions of their president, the LHCBA decided to boycott the courtroom of Justice Gul and staged a protest outside the Bar office. This blatant disrespect is punishable by contempt of court, yet the group mentality that leads lawyers to believe that they can get away with intimidating and coercing judges forced Justice Gul to leave the courtroom. Out of the 60 LHC judges, only three are women. In largely male-dominated institutions, it is difficult for a woman to make her place and establish her authority. Perhaps Chishti would have been more willing to follow the Judge’s orders if she were a man.The notion that lawyers in Pakistan can strongarm the justice system into acceding to their whims is detrimental to the judicial process. Any intervention from state bodies or the judiciary to check this trend may cause more problems. Bar associations themselves must police their members, promote reasonable behaviour and adherence to courtroom etiquette, rather than being influenced by this sort of group mentality. Many of the failures of Pakistan’s justice system stem from its inability to resolve cases in a timely fashion, which is why Justice Gul’s ire at the counsel’s late arrival and her eagerness to move on to the next case is completely warranted. Lawyers, particularly those that represent and lead Bar associations need to be aware of the importance of appearing in court at the scheduled hearing. Even minor delays can cause significant backlogs. All this commotion will lead to unnecessary delays in the pending cases before the LHC.
pk. shafaqna.com
