RAWALPINDI:
The Rawalpindi District Bar Association has demanded a formal stake in the appointment of judges in the Lahore High Court and the Islamabad High Court, stating that the Rawalpindi Bar has been consistently ignored in judicial appointments.
It warned that continued neglect will be challenged at all levels and protests will be held on any scale.
Bar President Tariq Mahmood Sajid Awan and Secretary Qamar Khan Niazi along with Vice President Nazia Yasin Hashmi, Joint Secretary Ahsan Saleem and members of the Board expressed these views during a joint press conference.
They said a ban on judges visiting district bars has been introduced under a planned conspiracy to divide the bar and the bench, adding that lawyers will not allow it to succeed and the notification restricting judges’ access to bars should be withdrawn.
They said the Rawalpindi Bar has been ignored in judicial appointments for over a decade, resulting in highly experienced and capable lawyers being overlooked.
They added that the bar must unite to secure its rightful share in the judiciary. While lawyers from Multan and Bahawalpur are included in the Lahore High Court, the Rawalpindi Bar – the third largest in Pakistan and the second largest in Punjab – continues to be ignored.
They said that Rawalpindi Bar has always played an effective role in upholding constitutional supremacy, rule of law and independence of judiciary.
The Bar currently has 9,000 lawyers whose skills are being wasted. They said names like Khalid Mahmood Abbasi, Agha Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Bashir Paracha and Raja Ghazanfar were removed from the list of judges.
They added that the Rawalpindi Bar has produced several notable judges and lawyers including Justice Waqas Rauf, Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan, Justice Sardar Aslam, Justice (retd) Maulvi Anwarul Haq, Justice (retd) Ibadur Rehman Lodhi, Rab Nawaz Noon, Sardar Ishaq and Chaudhry Zamarlarud role. They alleged that the capacities of several lawyers, including Malik Waheed Anjum and Basharatullah Khan, were wasted in a conspiracy.
Addressing the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Judicial Commission, they said the Rawalpindi Bar will no longer remain a silent spectator and demanded that four seats in the Lahore High Court be allotted to it.
