The Lahore Bar Association held a press conference at Aiwan-i-Adl on Monday condemning the decision to divide sessions court benches between Lahore City and New Lahore.
LBA president Chaudhary Ishtiaq and general secretary Saleem Ladhi said they would not allow its implementation.
Ishtiaq said none of the lawyers’ organisations [Pakistan Bar Council, Punjab Bar Council and Lahore Bar Association] had been taken into confidence on the matter. “This is a conspiracy to divide the bars,” he said. “None of us have been informed about the new setup.”
“No new district judge will be allowed to sit at the Aiwan-i-Adal,” said Ishtiaq, “decisions that place lawyers and bars at a disadvantage will not be allowed to be implemented.” He said that the LBA should have been taken into confidence over the matter, “instead we were cornered”. Ishtiaq said there was a need to increase the number of judges rather than dividing the court. A meeting will be held on February 11 (today) to decide their future strategy, he said.
A few days ago, the LHC had sought lists of cases pending in subordinate courts to distribute the workload between Lahore City and New Lahore.
The Home Department had issued a notification stating that Lahore City would have 48 police stations and New Lahore 36 police stations.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2014.