ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) proposal to observe a complete strike on September 14 (Thursday) over the problems experienced by the PTI and its leadership has increased the rift within the legal community.
An SCBA conference last week marked the beginning of a movement among lawyers, although the ‘Independent’ and ‘Professional’ factions of the legal community are deeply divided over the matter.
According to lawyers who follow bar politics carefully, both factions are jockeying for position in order to run a successful campaign in the impending SCBA elections, scheduled for the last week of next month.
They further claim that parties consistently employ the barriers in order to attain their political goals.
Independent Group (Asma Jahangir Group) representatives were seen to be instrumental in bringing the Article 95 no-confidence motion against deposed prime minister Imran Khan to a successful conclusion.
Later, it stuck with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government till the end of its term in office.
The PTI enjoys “soft corner” support from the Professional Lawyers Group, also known as the Hamid Khan Group. There are several prominent elders among them who have already joined the cause.
Abid Zuberi, president of the SCBA, is a member of this group.
In response to the difficulties experienced by PTI leaders and activists in the wake of the chaos on May 9, representatives from the Professional Lawyers Group have spoken out.
The regularity organisations that announced the statewide strike were the bar councils, and one Independent member claimed that his party had a majority in all of them.
He insisted that the PTI’s narrative was being followed by the Professional Group right now, despite the fact that this was unacceptable to the group’s Independent members.
He dismissed the idea that attorneys may form a new movement.
One member of the Independent Group pointed out that most of the Supreme Court’s verdicts were in favour of the PTI, so if the SCBA president was serious about going through with the plan, he should make sure the strike was observed there as well.
It’s interesting that the two groups of lawyers agree that elections should be held within 90 days.
Both groups had already agreed to oppose the president’s recommendation that Justice Qazi Faez Isa be removed from office.
The Pakistan Bar Council and the provincial bar councils are dominated by the Independent Group. Both the presidents of the Lahore High Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association are members of the Professional Group.
The vast majority of solicitors feel that major political parties’ sway over the legal profession must end.
The PML-N Lawyers Forum is holding a seminar on the rule of law and judicial independence tomorrow (Wednesday), it has been learned.
If lawyers within an association felt that their interests, rights, or ethical issues were not being effectively handled by their leadership, strikes may be called, according to Nida Khan, the finance secretary of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association.
But it’s also worth noting that variables beyond bar politics can have an impact on the frequency and severity of lawyer strikes, including changes in the law and the economy. She also mentioned that recently, “legal associations called for a strike to address the intolerable price hike and express their concerns about economic challenges that affect both lawyers and the general population.”
