Lawyers | Pakistan

Lawyers held a protest march in Karachi on Wednesday, demanding “immediate” steps for the protection and preservation of the Karoonjhar Mountain range. They also called for the withdrawal of an appeal by the Sindh government, challenging a two-judge Sindh High Court bench judgement on the preservation of Karoonjhar hills in Tharparkar. The appeal was filed in the Supreme Court, but it has now landed in the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), which was established under the 27th Amendment. The Sindh High Court Bar Association had announced a protest today, calling for the preservation of the Karoonjhar Mountain range, and planned to march from the Sindh High Court to the Chief Minister House. View this post on Instagram However, the protesters were barred from reaching the CM House due to the placement of containers to block the routes leading to the building. The measure also created inconvenience for the commuters who were asked by the traffic police in multiple advisories to travel on alternative routes. Po...

Lawyers of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) staged a protest on Saturday at the Sindh High Court (SHC) against the recently enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment. The contentious amendment, which resulted in the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), was passed by Parliament amid the opposition’s outcry. It has also been criticised by some legal experts as a means to dethrone the Supreme Court (SC) as the country’s highest judicial forum, ceding that position to the FCC. Former and sitting judges, as well as lawyers, voiced opposition to the amendment, particularly citing its impact on the SC. Hours after the amendment was enacted on November 13, two judges of the SC resigned, citing their reservations against it. The two judges were Athar Minallah and Mansoor Ali Shah, who was the senior puisne judge of the SC at the time. Today, lawyers began their protest outside the SHC’s premises by chanting slogans against the amendment and later entered the high court’s premises. Visuals showed some ...

Lawyers and politicians alike lamented the resignations of two Supreme Court judges, Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, in the wake of the 27th Constitutional Amendment’s passage as a “dark day” for the country’s judicial history. Both judges had called on Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi in separate letters to summon a full court meeting and judicial conference to hold a debate on the 27th Constitutional Amendment. In his resignation letter today, Justice Shah said that “staying on would not only amount to silent acquiescence in a constitutional wrong, but would also mean continuing to sit in a court whose constitutional voice has been muted,” while Justice Minallah regretted that the Constitution he swore to uphold was “no more”. Here is what the lawyers and politicians had to say on the departure of the two judges. ‘Darkest day’ Lawyer Mirza Moiz Baig said today marked the “darkest day” in our judicial history. “Not only has the Supreme Court lost two of its greatest jurists, but the passa...

Lawyers’ bodies called for the dismissal of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the post of Islamabad High Court chief justice on Friday, condemning the remarks attributed to him during an exchange with rights activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir yesterday and a clarification by him on the matter earlier today. On Thursday, Justice Dogar had warned Mazari of a contempt of court case and was reported to have gone as far as passing warning remarks along the lines of “getting a hold of her”. Today, he provided a clarification regarding the matter, saying that his words were presented “out of context”. During the hearing of a case on a plea filed by a citizen named Abdul Jabbar — who sought the removal of his name from the Exit Control List — Justice Dogar addressed the matter, saying that Mazari was “just like a daughter” to him, and he was only explaining things to her yesterday. “Being the chief justice and an elder, I was trying to make her understand.” He went on to say that his remarks were ...