The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) is concerned about the current situation arisen after the pronouncement of the Panama case judgment by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and more particularly when some of the bar leaders issued press statements indicating launch of lawyers movement for political purposes, says a press release issued here on Friday.
Therefore, to maintain the unity of the Bar and to derive consensus on the issue in hand, the All Pakistan Lawyers Representatives Conference has been called. The Bar leaders from all over Pakistan deliberated upon the issue and have arrived on the following declaration: The legal fraternity firmly believes in democratic institutions and their continuity as per constitutional scheme.
The lawyers have always sacrificed for this noble cause; It is considered view of the Bar that corruption and nepotism is rampant throughout the Country and therefore we believe in across the board accountability; The Panama Case judgment despite criticism/support from different sections, is a step forward for a legal course to eliminate corruption and corrupt practices. We believe that process of accountability should be across the board for all the Institutions including political parties. This we believe also blocks the extra constitutional interferences which we experienced in the past. We respect and appreciate the views given by two judges of the Supreme Court as well as the views of other three judges of the Bench and demand that the implementation bench should check the credentials of members of the JIT to ensure fair and transparent investigation and collection of evidence.
Therefore, after detailed deliberations a section of participants opined that on moral side the Prime Minister should step down to join JIT proceedings, However, majority view is that we should vigilantly watch future proceedings and any call for resignation and launch of agitation is premature at this stage as it may harm the democratic system. A committee will be constituted by the Pakistan Bar Council to watch proceedings of the implementation bench.-PR