ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) clarified that a statement issued by eight members of the 23-member PBC represents the views of those individual members and cannot be treated as the collective position of the lawyers’ body.
The statement issued by Secretary PBC on Saturday said: “In an institution governed by democratic principles, the minority cannot dictate the position of the majority. The PBC is an institution of the legal fraternity and must remain above political interests and personal agendas. Neither the platform of the PBC nor that of the superior judiciary should be politicised or used for any ulterior motives,” it added.
Eight members of the PBC, namely PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Abid Shahid Zuberi, Muhammad Maqsood Buttar, Shafqat Mehmood Chauhan, Munir Ahmed Kakar, Abdul Sattar Khan, Salahuddin Ahmed and Qazi Muhammad Arshad, earlier in the day (Saturday) strongly condemned the government’s “blatant, wilful and deliberate violation” of the Supreme Court’s August 18 order.
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A three-member bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed and comprising Justice Naeem Akhter Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, had directed the government to shift Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital for a medical check-up. However, the PTI founder was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), instead of Shifa Hospital.
The eight-member statement further said: “The order of the SC was clear, unequivocal, and binding, yet the executive has chosen to disregard it and has acted in direct defiance of the court’s directions and violated the same. The executive has no authority to defy the directions and orders of the SC.”
However, the PBC strongly condemned the statement issued by the said eight individual members, as well as the statement issued by the Lahore High Court Bar Association.
The PBC leadership categorically distances itself from such statements. “These statements do not reflect the collective views, position, or policy of the legal fraternity and the institution.”
The PBC statement further said that the Council, being the apex body of lawyers in Pakistan, firmly believes that the Bar representatives must not use the Bar platforms for their personal political motives. The Council believes in the Rule of Law, independence of the judiciary, supremacy of the Constitution, and the sanctity of constitutional institutions. All members are expected to respect these fundamental principles and to uphold the dignity and institutional independence of the Pakistan Bar Council.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026