Punjab Bar Council (PBC) has announced on Tuesday to observe strike across the province tomorrow (Thursday) to express solidarity with Chief Justice on his stand off with the President on judges' elevation issue. He said lawyers from across the province will observe complete boycott of courts and hold general house meetings in their respective bar assertions tomorrow when SC will be hearing its suo motu case taken against issuance of said unconstitutional notifications by President.
However, vice chairman of the Bar Mumtaz Mustafa disowned National Co-ordination Council (NCC) of lawyers headed by supreme court bar association's president Qazi Anwar and its strike observed on Monday. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday PBC vice chairman said that only elected bodies of lawyers had the right to take decisions about protest activities of the fraternity.
He said the NCC is a non-elected and unauthorised body of the lawyers. He said it was formed on emergency grounds during two-year long historical movement of the lawyers but it did not attain any legal status as it was not established under Legal Practitioner and Bar Council Act, he added. He also condemned the issuance of illegal notifications by President of Pakistan regarding elevation of LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif as judge SC and appointing Justice Mian Saqib Nisar as acting LHC CJ.
Mustafa hailed the decision of Supreme Court wherein it suspended the notifications and announced full support to judiciary against all unconstitutional acts of government. Chairman executive committee of PBC Rana Muhammad Ikram besides other Bar members including Maqsood Buttar and Rai Bashir were also present at the press conference.