After over a month of strikes, the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) has given time till Monday to withdraw a decision to transfer civil cases to Model Town.
Hundreds of lawyers took out a procession from Aiwan-e-Adl to the Lahore High Court under the leadership of LBA President Munir Bhatti. The protesters carrying placards delivered fiery speeches and chanted slogans.
The LBA president said it was not fair to shift the civil courts to Model Town, which, according to him would become a hurdle in the dispensation of justice and increase pendency of cases.
He said it had earlier been easy for lawyers to move from the civil courts to attend the proceedings of criminal cases in the adjacent buildings. How the lawyers after attending a hearing at one corner of the city would reach courts to pursue the cases in another area, he wondered.
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He warned of stopping work in all courts, including the LHC, if the decision was not withdrawn by the chief justice of the high court.
The LBA leader said the association would request the Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association to observe a strike.
Punjab Bar Council Member Advocate Rushda Lodhi questioned the wisdom behind shifting cases of civil nature to Model Town. She said civil and criminal cases were sometimes connected and it would be difficult for a lawyer to travel from one court to another situated at a considerable distance.
Other protesting lawyers also said the cases must be heard at the earlier place, Aiwan-e-Adl, where the civil courts were already conducting hearings.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2024.
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