Lawyers boycott courts against PTI, PAT sit-ins
Lawyers have announced a countrywide boycott of courts protesting the sit-ins by PTI and PAT.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Pakistan Bar Council announced to boycott all court proceedings on Thursday in protest against the sit-ins by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistani Awami Tehreek (PAT), Dunya News reported. Lawyers across the country are observing a strike whereas in some cities black flags have also been raised in the bar rooms.
Lawyers consider the sit-ins by PTI and PAT a major threat to democracy in Pakistan and according to them the demands by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri are unconstitutional. On the appeal of Pakistan Bar Council, lawyers have boycotted courts in Islamabad, delaying the hearing of thousands of cases.
Lawyers have also boycotted courts in Karachi. The district courts in Malir remained closed and therefore, the pending cases couldn’t be heard. The hearing of security cases was also delayed. Following the appeal of Pakistan Bar Council, the lawyers in Lahore are also on strike. The judicial affairs, on the other hand, are also at a standstill. Thousands of cases pending before the Session court and in the courts of Cantt and Model Town areas of Lahore are also on hold.
Meanwhile, the lawyers in Multan have also shunned courts in protest against Imran and Qadri’s sit-in outside the parliament house. Those awaiting hearings in the courts are facing severe crisis and have left from courts completely disappointed and hopeless.
In Quetta, other than boycotting Balochistan High Court, session court and district courts the lawyers have held aloof from all court proceedings. However, in Peshawar too the lawyers have announced to go on a strike protesting against Imran and Qadri, therefore the High Court including other divisional courts have remained closed. Lawyers refused to appear in courts in the city of Kasur, whereas in other cities of Punjab like Jhang and Vehari, the courts have also remained shut as lawyers are observing strike.
Following Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri’s sit-in protest outside parliament, the National Assembly session was delayed on Wednesday morning. The entrance to the Parliament House was not acceptable to the assembly members as tens of thousands of protesters led by ex-cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan and a populist cleric Tahirul Qadri have staged sit-in outside the Parliament House on Wednesday in a bid to depose the prime minister, bringing a week-long political drama to a head. AFP reported that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chairman Tahir-ul-Qadri claim last year s general election was rigged and have demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif s resignation.
Their five-day protest rally in Islamabad, and the two-day "long marches" from the eastern city of Lahore that preceded it, have piled pressure on the government little more than a year since its landslide victory.
The government had ordered them not to enter the capital s "red zone", which houses key buildings including parliament, the prime minister s house and numerous Western embassies.
