ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday disposed of contempt proceedings against IHC Bar Association (IHCBA) Secretary Umair Baloch.

The contempt notice was issued against Mr Baloch after he disrupted the court proceedings to observe a strike against the arrest of lawyers following the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) incident.

Subsequently, the IHCBA also withdrew its call for boycott of the court of IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah.

The IHC chief justice had issued a contempt of court notice to the IHCBA secretary and suspended his licence till Dec 19 for forcibly evicting advocates from the courtroom to protest the police action against lawyers who had raided the PIC.

The court noted that a strong bar was inevitable for an independent judiciary and to protect and defend the Constitution. The credibility and reputation of the legal profession depends on the bar councils’ role and performance to ensure lawyers’ adherence to the required standards.

The bar councils have a noble status and a pivotal role in building a just, disciplined and democratic society. Its role is essentially associated with building and maintaining public trust in the justice system, particularly the courts.

Justice Minallah observed that the elected members of the bar councils had an important role to play in society. They are expected to make themselves role models for other enrolled members, particularly young lawyers.

“The bar councils have the onerous task to ensure that the canons of ethics and proprietary associated with legal profession are strictly followed. It is the duty of the bar councils to ensure that every enrolled member upholds the dignity and high standing of the legal profession.”

Discussing the case of Mr Baloch, the court order stated: “As an elected representative of the members of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association and this court has no reason to doubt that he would fail in his duty to uphold the sanctity and dignity of the court and the administration of justice.”

The court accepted his stance and expressed satisfaction that he has realised that the incident which had led to initiation of these proceedings should not have happened, and had expressed remorse in this regard.

This court is also mindful of the recent events and thus restrain ought to be exercised so that others may not get an opportunity to exploit the situation, Justice Minallah added.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2019