Courts remain closed in Punjab to mourn slain judges

Staff Report

LAHORE: Judicial work at the Lahore High Court (LHC) remained suspended on Saturday after 10:30am to mourn the death of three judicial officers in the Sialkot District Jail on Friday.

Meanwhile, the district and sessions courts, accountability courts and all civil and criminal courts subordinate to the LHC remained closed across the province to mourn the judges. Funeral prayers were offered for the slain judges in the court premises in various cities of the Punjab. In Lahore, the funeral prayers were offered outside the Aiwan-e-Adl mosque at 11:00am. A large number of lawyers and people from other walks of life attended the funeral and offered tribute to the deceased judicial officers.

Those who attended the funeral prayers in Lahore included Lahore High Court Registrar Sheikh Abdul Rashid, Punjab Food Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, provincial Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed, provincial Finance Minister Hussnain Dareshak, MPA Rana Mashood, Punjab Chief Secretary Hafeez Randhawa, Lahore District and Sessions Judge Haji Muhammad Akram Beetu, Justice (r) Khalid Paal Khawaja and judicial officers appointed in Lahore.

LHC Chief Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry had notified on Friday that the high court’s principal seat and all its benches would cease work after 10:30pm on Saturday. He had also said that lower courts throughout the Punjab would remain closed on Saturday to mourn the three judges.

Lawyers also decided to observe a strike after 10:30am tomorrow (Monday) to protest against the improper handling of the attempted jailbreak which led to the three judges’ killing. The Lahore High Court Bar Association would also hold a meeting to condemn the incident.

Karachi: Lawyers protested against the killing of the three judges in the jail hostage-taking incident in Sialkot and boycott of proceedings on Saturday.

The Karachi Bar Council had called the boycott against the killing of three judges in Sialkot. The bar members passed a resolution condoling the deaths of the judges and condemned the fact that the police operation resulting in the tragedy had been initiated without prior measures to ensure the safety of the judges.

The KBA said there had already been several attempts on the lives of judges and lawyers, but no steps were not taken to ensure their security of these people.

Lawyers discussing the incidents in the corridors commented that the incident could have been avoided. They said the operation was launched in haste.

Muzaffargarh: All civil and sessions courts in District Muzaffargarh were closed on Saturday to mourn the death of three judges in the Sialkot Jail incident.

The Lahore, Multan and Bahawalpur High Court Benches left work in protest at 10:30 in the morning. The courts adjourned all case hearings till the next assigned dates.

District bar associations also went on strike to mourn for the judges who laid down their lives in the line of duty, and to condemn the mishandling of the situation by the jail administration.

“ It is a tragedy and an undeniable proof of failure of ministry of interior in particular and of present government in general, “ said District Bar Council President, Abdul Aziz Jaskeeni.

He said the jail and police officials were partly responsible for the death of three judges and the statements of the Gujranwala DIG were just an abortive attempt to conceal facts and save the guilty from prosecution. He said that prisons in Pakistan had become a hub of criminal and subversive activity and were producing terrorists, dacoits and other criminals.

“Funeral prayers were offered in Muzaffargarh in front of Sessions Judge Office which was attended by the District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Ijaz with other judges and lawyers. Also present were DCO Shamsher Ali Khan Syal, District Police Officer (DPO) Salman Chaudhry and various department heads together with a large number of citizens.

District Bar Association President, Multan Shaikh Jamshed Hayat, who is the son of a high court judge said that the present government should resign forthwith admitting its failure in maintaining law and order in the country and protecting the lives of even the judiciary officers.

Ahmedpur East: Civil Courts remained closed in protest over the killings of three judges in the Sialkot jail shootout. Judicial work was kept pending, however lawyers kept their chambers open for clients.

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