Lahore Bar Association (LBA) leaders on Friday said that they would not let judges work if they continued to file references against lawyers without consulting them first.
They were addressing a meeting of lawyers at the Aiwan-i-Adl in connection with the dismissal of a reference by the Punjab Bar Council on March 20. The reference was filed by Additional District and Sessions Judge Javed Iqbal Warraich a few weeks ago against some LBA representatives, including LBA general secretary Saleem Ladhi, for misconduct. The reference had been moved at the Lahore High Court from where it was sent to the Punjab Bar Council where it was dismissed. LBA representatives said they had sacrificed a lot in the lawyers’ movement to restore the former chief justice. They said they would not cooperate with judges if they [judges] did not stand up for them. “We will not be deterred by the judges’ references even if they file thousands against us…where was the Lahore High Court when 12 judges announced a strike at the Model Town Courts?” they said. He said the judges were making up stories to corner lawyers “but we will foil their plans”. LBA president Chaudhary Ishtiaq said Judge Warraich had misbehaved with LBA’s representatives but a reference was sent against the lawyers instead of the judge. Saleem Ladhi said the Punjab Bar Council had dismissed the reference with the observation that it was not maintainable.
The judge had to call police officials, deputed at the sessions court. Ladhi had denied that the bar had stopped the judge from his work.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2014.