LAHORE - MIAN DAWOOD  - Lawyers bore the brunt of a demonstration against the decision of the Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) to reinstate the membership of their colleague, though he faced harassment charges.
The PbBC suspended the membership of Rana Altaf after woman colleague Humaira Bashir submitted an application to the council, alleging that he tortured her.
However, his membership was restored, trigging ire among the lawyers, particularly the woman, who staged a protest against the council decision. But the licences of the protesting lawyers were cancelled.
The lawyers also condemned the decision of PbBC to cancel the licences of Supreme Court Bar Association Vice President Imrana Perveen Baloch, Shakeela Rana, Humaira Bashir Chaudhry, Irhsad Begum, Afaaq Ahmad, Abdul Hameed, Hafiz Tariq and Shahid Nadeem Shoukat who had protested against the restoration of Altaf’s licence.
The council decided to cancel the licences of aforesaid lawyers following a scuffle happened on July 7 in response of reinstatement of licence of Altaf. A lady lawyer Humaira Bashir of Burewala had filed an application against Altaf for torturing her.
Some members of the PbBC also detained the group of lady lawyers in the council premises for about two hours when they protested against the reinstatement of Altaf’s licence.
Talking to this scribe, SCBA Vice President Imrana Perveen Baloch said some members of the PbBC were using the premises for their ‘enjoyments’. “Abusing and harassing the lady lawyers by detaining them at the council’s premises by chairman executive committee and other members has set a new example of unethical history among legal fraternity,” she added.
“The PbBC has turned into a house of political agents of PPP’s leadership,” Perveen alleged adding that she was being victimised because she belonged to Hamid Khan Group.
The SCBA vice president said the licences of lady lawyers were cancelled because they raised voice for their rights. She claimed that the PbBC had not the authority to cancel her licences.
“Only Pakistan Bar Council can cancel the license of any lawyer who practices for the Supreme Court,” Imrana said.
Humaira Bashir Chaudhry said PbBC Executive Committee Chairman Rana Asif suspended the licence of Altaf and issued notice to both parties for July 7. However, the chairman secretly conducted the hearing on July 3 and illegally reversed the suspended licence of Rana Altaf, the victim lady said.