PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday directed the Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bar councils to respond to a petition challenging a provision of the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules, 1976, which allows the former to give a call for nationwide strike.

A bench consisting of Justice Mussarat Hilali and Justice Mohammad Nasir Mehfooz fixed Jan 28 for the next hearing into the petition of lawyer Ali Azim Afridi, who requested the court to declare Rule 175-E of the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Rules, 1976, which empower Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) to give a strike call, in conflict with the Constitution.

The petitioner also requested the court to declare unconstitutional Rule 176-B to the extent of non-observance or defiance of the PBC decisions by lawyers regarding strike or protest.

Ali Azim said Rule 176-B provided that non-observance or defiance of decisions of the PBC by any bar council or bar association or any member of the bar should be deemed to be a gross professional misconduct.

He requested the court to ask the PBC not to block or hamper his appearance and that of other lawyers and people before the courts.

Observes if representatives of Pakistan, KP bar councils don’t show up, it will decide case on merit

As the lawyers continued to observe strike across the province, the representatives of Pakistan and KP bar councils didn’t turn up to argue the case.

The bench observed that if the strike continued and representatives of bar councils did not appear on the next hearing, then it would decide the case on merit.

KP Advocate General Shumail Ahmad Butt appeared on behalf of provincial government.

The respondents in the petition are the federation of Pakistan through the federal law secretary, PBC through its vice-chairman, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council through its vice-chairman, PHC Bar Association through its secretary general, PHC registrar, and KP law secretary.

The petition was filed last month when lawyers observed strike for five consecutive days on different issues. Initially, a strike was observed from Dec 9 to Dec 11 on the call of the KP Bar Council against certain amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure and introduction of a new anti-narcotics law.

On Dec 12, the lawyers boycotted courts to protest the killing of their community member, Feroze Shah, in Swat. A strike was observed on Dec 13 across the country against the arrest of several lawyers over the Punjab Institute of Cardiology attack.

Ali Azim contended that the Constitution provided for access to justice, which was both a right in itself and the means of protecting and restoring other basic rights.

The petitioner said the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973, was enacted in 1973 allowing the PBC to make rules within meaning of Section 55 of the Act.

He said the right to access to justice was a fundamental right provided for by the Constitution and as such, the call of strike and protest at national level prevented lawyers from performing their duty and that, too, to the discredit of the people.

Ali Azim said the law nowhere provided for taking action over non-observance and defiance of instructions pertaining to call of strike and protest issued by the PBC but under the rules, the same amounted to misconduct.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2020