ISLAMABAD – The legal fraternity on Friday stood united against the PPP’s strike call against the Supreme Court’s judgment against the appointment of Justice (r) Deedar Hussain Shah as NAB chairman.
Even the lawyers considered close to the PPP-led coalition government also came down hard on the strike call and called it against democratic norms.
Calling the strike call “a principally wrong decision”, eminent lawyer Justice (r) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim said no strike could be called against court verdicts.
“I am afraid it is a principally wrong decision. You cannot give a call against a court verdict. We lose and win cases on a daily basis but if we hold protest on losing cases, how will the judicial system function?” he said.
To a query’ he said one had a right to criticise a judgment, “but you can’t protest against it”. “I think that keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, the court should have given the verdict with reasons and the matter could have been delayed,” he added.
Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jahangir also criticised the protest call. “One can criticise a judgment, but no one has a right to hold protest demonstrations against court verdicts. Since the detailed judgment is yet to be issued, I think this protest was wrong and any decision should have been taken after the detailed judgment,” she said told reporters.
Calling for promotion of democratic norms and a tolerant culture, Asma said the government should promote tolerant behaviour and holding demonstrations and strikes against court verdict reflected impatience. Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood called the strike call unfortunate, saying it should “not have happened”.
“A strike against the court verdicts is uncalled for. Court verdicts always benefit one party while the other one suffers, but protesting against decisions may take us nowhere.
