Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) on Monday strongly condemned the killings of two lawyers in the city and demanded for convening Ulema conference of all schools of thoughts to disseminate peace message to the followers. On the call of Sindh Bar Council (SBC), the legal fraternity boycotted the courts proceedings in protest against the killings of Sallahuddin Haider Jaferi Advocate and his son, Ali Raza Haider Jaferi Advocate on last Saturday.
Lawyers of District Malir Court however announced to observe black-week during which they would not attend court proceedings. The SHCBA held a condolence meeting at Iftikhar Hall, Sindh High Court, which was attended by all judges and a large number of lawyers. The legal fraternity approved unanimously a resolution demanding of the government to arrest the killers and bring them to justice. The resolution was presented by General Secretary SHCBA, Shahabuddin Sarki.
Vice President, SHCBA, Ashiq Ali Anwar Rana presided the council meeting in the absence of President SHCBA, Anwar Mansoor Khan. Addressing the meeting, Justice Maqbool Baqir of Sindh High Court showed dissatisfaction over the performance of law enforcers. He observed the law enforcers had failed to protect the citizens too and became discredited.
He stressed the need that the judges and lawyers should be given security on a priority basis, saying the judiciary had to initiate action in the wake of a failure of law enforcers. He said the law enforcers should improve their performance. Ashiq Ali Anwar Rana demanded of the government to arrest the killers of the two lawyers immediately and bring them to justice. He said the government should provide security to judges and lawyers and install CCTV camera on routes they travel on.
He announced that the SHCBA members would contest the cases of all the slain lawyers without charging any fee and urged their heirs to file suit of Rs 100 million each to seek justice. He also tossed recommendation to call all Pakistan ulema conference with a view to harmonise the society and allow peace to sprout.
Meanwhile, a meeting of lawyers, police high-ups, all district and session judges was held here, which was presided over by Justice Maqbool Baqir. The meeting discussed the recent spate of lawyers' killing. The AIG Sindh assured the meeting that killers of the lawyers would be brought to justice. Vice President and Secretary General of SHCBA also attended the meeting.