PESHAWAR, July 12: Lawyers on Thursday boycotted courts in the provincial capital against the contempt of court law on the call of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council (KPBC).

However, Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) office-bearers didn’t go on strike, saying only the Pakistan Bar Council decisions are binding on them.

Lawyers stayed away from subordinate courts and only a few appeared before the high court complaining to Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan that they were confused about strike.

In several cases, the high court had to adjourn hearings due to absence of lawyers.

On Wednesday night, KPBC had announced to observe strike against the passage of the contempt of court law by parliament and asked all lawyer associations in the province to boycott courts.

Senior advocate and ex-PHCBA president Attique Shah appeared before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and complained that the association adopted a vague stand on the matter to the confusion of its members.

However, the chief justice pointed out that PHCBA president Abdul Lateef Afridi had informed him in the morning that the association won’t observe strike.

Mr Attique said in the recent past, lawyers showed unity during agitation for the deposed judges’ restoration but unfortunately, they appeared divided on the contempt of law issue.

He blamed the division among lawyers on PHCBA.

A few lawyers said the PHCBA office-bearers had claimed that the KPBC decision was not binding on them and that they would follow the Pakistan Bar Council decisions only.

When contacted, chairman of KPBC’s executive committee Naeemuddin told Dawn that the council’s decision was binding on all provincial lawyer associations, including PHCBA.

He said the strike was successful across the province as in most districts, lawyers didn’t appear before courts.

Mr Naeemuddin said relations between PHCBA and KPBC had been a bit strained since the annual elections of the former over the voter list controversy.

He said the matter had been pending with Pakistan Bar Council.

The KPBC committee chief rejected the contempt of court law as a bad piece of legislation and said it was meant to protect a few individuals, including the prime minister, against the possible Supreme Court action.