MULTAN, August 21st: More than 200 lawyers in Multan on Monday observed strike and sit-in to protest against 'police high-handedness' and 'unjust' court ruling after the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the arrest of a legal fraternity leader Sher Zaman Qureshi.They vowed to continue their protest till the withdrawal of arrest orders. Police have attempted to arrest to him from the court but other lawyers foiled this attempt. lawyers of the high court and lower courts began protesting against the incident at Multan's Katcheri Chowk as news got out. The Multan city police officer (CPO)Muhammad Saleem Qureshi raided Qureshi's office to arrest him but could not find him there. He then went to the district bar but Qureshi was still nowhere to be seen. Sources said Qureshi has gone off the grid and was last seen escaping the district bar on a motorcycle earlier today. The CPO said Qureshi will be arrested by all means and produced in the LHC tomorrow(Tuesday). However, lawyers based in Multan said Qureshi would himself appear before the LHC chief justice if warrants of his arrest are withdrawn. They denied Qureshi had run away and claimed he is 'among them'. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the government is attempting to resolve the issue peacefully. Replying to a question, he said authorities are exercising caution in their response in Lahore today so as to avoid an even violent reaction by the legal community across the country tomorrow. On July 24,2017 Qureshi and another lawyer, along with a few others, allegedly misbehaved with a senior judge Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan and obstructed judicial proceedings of his court at the Multan bench. They had also allegedly vandalised and ransacked the court premises and ripped off the nameplate of the judge.Expressing displeasure over the lawyers’ behaviour, the LHC chief justice had stopped the judges from working for the Multan bench. The incident also led to the boycott of courts of the region by lawyers’ bodies. The heavy contingent of police cordoned off the entrance to the courtroom and a tussle between the two sides ensued. Lawyers Protest LHC Arrest Order Of Multan Bar President .Lahore High Court has issued Non-Bailable arrest warrants for Multan bar President Sher Zaman in contempt of court case. A-5 member bench headed by Chief Justice Lahore High Court Mansoor Ali Shah has ordered to arrest Multan Bar President Sher Zaman and present him before the court tomorrow.Under the High Court rules and order, the court has also suspended licenses of Sher Zaman Qureshi and Multan Bar Secretary Qaiser Kazmi.During the hearing, lawyers chanting slogans started a ruckus and attempted to forcibly enter the courtroom.The police cordoned off the entrance and a tussle ensued between the two sides.Later, the lawyers took to mall road in protest, disrupting flow of traffic.Authorities used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesting lawyers while members of the legal fraternity pelted stones at the LHC building and police personnel protecting it.
Iftikhar’s “Jaan Nisars” extract a price from courts
The best choice for Sher Zaman Qureshi, President Multan Bar Association, was to appear before the Lahore High Court and apologise for his behaviour. Not only did he fail to turn up, his group resorted to violence, dislodged an iron-grill gate to try to break into the courtroom of the CJ. The attempt was thwarted by the anti-riot police which used tear gas and water cannon to force the protesters out of the court premises. The protesters were demanding that the order to arrest Qureshi be immediately withdrawn and the court proceedings against him terminated.
There are several reasons for the malaise prevailing in a section of the lawyers’ community which frequently resorts to violence. At the level of lower judiciary, the lawyers, judges and the court staff are often linked together in the same chain of corruption. The judges thus lose their stature in the eyes of the lawyers. Members of the higher judiciary have been found to be delivering judgments dictated by the military or civilian rulers. Politicians praise judiciary when it delivers a verdict in their favour but take recourse to the ‘court of the people’ to malign the judges in case of an adverse judgment. The lawyers have developed a sense of power after their successful movement for the restoration of independent judiciary. For quite some time the higher judiciary looked the other way as its black robed soldiers attacked unaccommodating judicial officers in the lower courts.
The lawyers are supposed to argue their case. It is highly inappropriate on their part to attack the courts or beat up policemen. Office bearers of lawyers’ elected bodies have failed to rein in the negative tendencies in their voters for fear of losing their support. There is a need on the part of senior lawyers to intervene to restore the dignity of their profession. Any display of weakness by the High Court in this case, would make judiciary a permanent hostage to lawless elements. What needs to be understood is that unless corruption is eradicated from the courts, the judges will continue to have an image problem.
