Islamabad: Islamabad Police have registered a case against at least 30 lawyers for wrecking the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building. The lawyers stormed the building and broke windows and doors, leaving the high court chief justice and other senior judges reportedly trapped inside his chamber for hours. The videos shared on social media showed lawyers attacking the chambers and causing destruction to property. The chaos continued until the law enforcement agencies arrived at the premises.
The situation turned violent on Monday as the lawyers protested the demolition of their chambers by the city authorities chanting slogans against the judiciary and CDA. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) had razed illegal structures built on the premises of the district and sessions court in Islamabad’s F-8 sector as part of the anti-encroachment operation in the city.
Police have registered First Information Report (FIR) against the lawyers under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act that includes vandalism, mob attack causing threat to life and disrupting peace, among other charges.
Reactions
The lawyers’ rampage in the capital city was described as a “dark day for judiciary” as many Pakistani advocates condemned the action. Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar said the storming of the Islamabad High Court by lawyers was an attack on the judiciary. “It’s a new low by the lawyers. Not so long ago, a hospital in Lahore was ransacked and its staff beaten up [by lawyers]. What next?” he said. Denouncing the incident, the Supreme Court Bar Association called for a “thorough probe and investigation” and bring those found responsible to book.
The lawyers practicing in the courts of Islamabad also issued a statement condemning the assault on the IHC chief justice building and the ransacking of his office. “An attack on the judiciary is an attack on the very foundations of the legal profession” the statement said, demanding that crimes of lawyers must be “dealt with by the same law that we all seek to uphold.” Several Pakistani lawyers also criticised the Islamabad Bar Council, which they said has failed to perform its supervisory functions to regulate the conduct of lawyers.
