ISLAMABAD: Within two days of the demolition of 21 chambers at the district courts in F-8, the lawyers have again constructed around 50 chambers in different parts of the court premises.

However, this did not end the suffering of the litigants. The lawyers have been on strike for over a week, demanding a rotation policy for the lower judiciary judges.

Under the rotation policy, judges would be transferred out of the capital and those from other provinces would be posted to Islamabad to avoid chances of alleged nexus among the adjudicators, lawyers and litigants.

Unauthorised chambers were demolished by CDA in the district courts at F-8 Markaz a few days ago

During an operation against encroachments on Thursday night, 21 chambers illegally constructed on footpaths and in the emergency exit of the district court building were razed by the CDA.

On Friday, the lawyers locked down the district courts and ‘detained’ some judges in protest against the demolition of the chambers. They declared the district courts a no-go area and also shut down a block housing 20 courtrooms. They alleged that the drive against encroachment was planned to disrupt their strike against the government’s proposal for transferring lower court judges to ministries and departments of the federal government.

Later, the lawyers started reconstruction of their chambers and raised around 50 chambers.

One of the lawyers requesting not to be quoted said it was unfortunate that lawyers even established chambers in those areas which were clear in the past.

“Chambers have been constructed in the parking area of former excise and taxation department. There was a shed under which litigants used to sit but now chambers have also been constructed there. At a vacant place where children of separated or divided families used to meet their parents, the lawyers also constructed chambers,” he said.

However, District Bar Association General Secretary Khursheed Butt told Dawn that chambers had already been constructed in all those places.

“We have been making efforts to introduce a rotation policy for the subordinate judiciary. There are 70 judges and in April we had filed an application in the Supreme Court that lower court judges should not serve in Islamabad for more than three years and should not be appointed at the home station at all,” he said.

“The chief justice of Pakistan considered our request and directed the attorney general to form a committee to formulate a rotation policy for the subordinate judiciary. However, only those lawyers who had represented the judges in the apex court were included in the committee. As a result, we announced the strike,” he said.

Mr Butt claimed that the CDA had informed lawyers that the chambers were demolished on the orders of the sessions judges.

“Now we are observing a strike and on the other hand judges are also saying that they would go on a strike. We know that litigants are suffering but we have decided to continue our strike as our demand is genuine.”

In reply to a question, he said only those chambers were reconstructed which were demolished on the orders of judges. He said in the past lawyers constructed chambers on a football ground but after a suo motu notice by the Supreme Court it was decided that no more chambers would be built.

“We have been sitting here on a temporary basis because a building for the district courts is already constructed in G-10 but the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has been working in that building since 2010,” Mr Butt said.

IHC Bar Association President Javed Akbar Shah said the mess in the chambers at F-8 Markaz and the lawyers’ confrontation with the district judiciary was unfortunate and a direct result of the lack of timely action, competence, courage and integrity on part of the regulator - Islamabad Bar Council.

“They have miserably failed to regulate construction of new chambers which is the right of young lawyers. A number of complaints regarding construction of chambers were heard by the disciplinary committee of the council and the judgment was reserved about eight months ago. The committee and all others have not been able to reach a decision,” he claimed.

He suggested referring the matter to the Pakistan Bar Council.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2018