Punjab Institute of Cardiology mayhem: Lawyers boycott courts across country

The legal fraternity on Friday observed boycott of courts across the country against arrests of lawyers in wake of attack on Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) and demanded judicial inquiry into the incident.

The bar members demanded of the provincial government order for release of all the arrested advocates in addition to deletion of section 7 ATA from the FIRs. They also appealed to media to demonstrate a balance reporting of the situation and avoid one sided version against the lawyers. They claimed that arrested lawyers had been severely tortured by police during custody.

Speaking at a press conference held in Lahore registry of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), several senior bar members termed the attack on the PIC a national tragedy and called for a judicial inquiry in it.

Former President SCBA Hamid Khan, former justice Malik Muhammad Qayum, Mian Israrul Haq and Pir Kaleem Khurshid, its sitting secretary Shamimur Rehman Malik, Lahore High Court Bar Association's former presidents Shafqat Mahmood Chohan and Rana Zia Abdul Rehman were among the speakers at the conference.

Hamid Khan said the bar was deeply disturbed over the unfortunate incident and felt profound regret on the deaths of patients at the PIC. However, he said, the bar had a view that the lawyers alone were not responsible for the incident but the doctors and their paramedical staff at the PIC were equally responsible for what happened. He further said the main responsibility for the incident lied squarely on the shoulders of the government for its failure to act in time and for its negligence in resolving the matter despite lapse of two weeks after the incident wherein doctors manhandled lawyers inside the PIC.

Malik Qayum said a fair and impartial judicial inquiry should be held into the entire situation starting from the assault on lawyers by the doctors and paramedical staff so that the responsible could be brought to justice.

Other speakers also expressed apology to the families who lost their loved ones during the course of incident. They condemned the role of the government too and said the legal fraternity throughout the country stood united and will always be a bulwark against dictatorship and attempts to curtail basic rights of citizens.

Security arrangements had been made at the Lahore High Court and rangers were deployed, outside the premises, to deal with any violent protest by the lawyers. The chief justice block was also cordoned off by anti-riot police. Majority of lawyers abstained from pleading cases before the courts and joined meetings and gatherings from time to time to express anger against the arrests of their colleagues.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019