LAHORE: The Lahore police arrested over a dozen lawyers belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) and Aiwan-i-Adl (civil courts complex) for violating section 144.
A large contingent of police and anti-riot forces was deployed outside the court premises when the lawyers held a protest at The Mall.
The police used teargas to disperse bar members and the PTI activists outside the Aiwan-i-Adl when the protesting lawyers took refuge inside the complex.
In response, the PTI lawyers and workers pelted police with stones. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz shared a picture of a police constable on her X handle who sustained an injury.
“Can any political party engage in such actions? And this is not the first time,” she tweeted.
The police shifted the arrested lawyers to different police stations.
Separately, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) announced it would hold a rally every Thursday.
President Bar Asad Manzoor Butt also announced a general house meeting on Monday.
In a statement, he said upholding the rule of law and the Constitution was their top priority.
He also said the bar rejected the Supreme Court’s recent decision on Article 63-A of the Constitution.
Speaking to the media, PTI Senator Hamid Khan said the government was introducing amendments to weaken the judiciary. He said lawyers were the shield against any conspiracy targeting the judiciary. He asserted that lawyers will only allow the creation or functioning of a separate federal constitutional court if the Supreme Court is present.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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