Advocates enrolled under IBC: SC demands verification of educational documents, licences

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court requested to order for the verification of educational documents and practicing licenses of all the advocates enrolled under the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC).

Saeed Khurshid Ahmad, senior advocate, filed the petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, and made federal secretary law and the IBC members as respondents. The petitioner had contested election for seat of member IBC and secured 605 votes obtaining 8th position against five allocated seats.

Khurshid alleged that academic certificates (law degree) and license of Qazi Rafi Uddin Babar, incumbent vice chairman IBC, also the member Judicial Commission of Pakistan and Haroonur Rasheed, chairman Executive Committee were fake. He said the bar members serving the statutory body, IBC, were required to hold legitimate degrees and credentials, so they were legally capable to represent the bar for elevation of their fellows to the bench as well as the litigants in their valuable cases.

He said recently President Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) Muhammad Zafar Khokhar asked two members of the IBC to submit their educational certificates and practicing licenses, but they paid no heed. He consequently displayed a notice for their default but his effort and requisition was not attended to by the said IBC members.

The petitioner said a few non-political lawyers were booked by the IBA president for fake degrees and licenses and the references against them were sent to the incumbent vice-chief IBC, and chairman Executive Committee of the IBC but their documents were also fake.

He submitted that the Lahore High Court issued writ in "Miss Gulzar Butt vs. Advocate General Punjab etc" for verification of degrees of the advocates who were contesting the election of the Punjab Bar Council and astonishingly there were number of contesting candidates whose degrees were not valid.

Khurshid said he filed this petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution before the apex court as the Islamabad High Court had already handed down number of decisions holding that writ could not be issued against the IBC or its subordinate bar associations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020