Lawyers observed a complete boycott of legal proceedings at the City Courts on Wednesday in protest against the registration of an FIR against their colleagues after an assault on YouTuber Rajab Butt and non-registration of a case against him on their complaint.
Members of the legal fraternity stayed away from courts, bringing routine legal activities to a halt.
A general body meeting of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) was held on the City Court premises. Addressing the meeting, KBA president Aamir Nawaz Warraich claimed that Butt’s lawyer Mian Ali Ashfaq had contacted them and expressed a desire to resolve the matter through mutual understanding.
He said the KBA also favoured a negotiated settlement and believed that issues should be resolved through dialogue rather than confrontation. He informed members that Rajab Butt’s lawyer would visit the KBA on January 3, where the both sides would be heard.
The KBA president said it was mutually agreed that both sides would observe a “social media ceasefire” and refrain from making statements. He said no further action would be taken on the case registered against the lawyers. He announced withdrawal of the strike call until January 3.
He said that if the issue is not resolved through dialogue, the bar’s position will be that if an FIR is registered against lawyers over the alleged assault on Butt, an FIR must also be registered against him on the lawyers’ complaint.
Separately, in a resolution, the KBA demanded that the lawyers’ FIR must also be lodged “immediately, without delay, obstruction, or discrimination, ensuring that both versions stand lawfully recorded as part of the legal process”.
“The Association further resolves that the matter thereafter be referred to a neutral Joint Investigation Team (JIT) or a Joint Inquiry Committee comprising representatives of the Bar and Councils, so that the proceedings advance on facts and law, not on media rhetoric, personal narratives, or political engineering,” read the resolution.
“The Association also resolves that in the future no lawyer shall engage in personal disputes inside court premises, nor permit outsides, social media handlers, or political elements to influence or interfere in matters concerning the Bar.”
