The irresponsible behaviour of the lawyers towards security arrangements at the sessions court can endanger the lives of hundreds at the sessions court, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Though Lahore Bar Association’s is demanding government to beef up security at sessions court and Aiwan-e-Adal, majority of the lawyers avoid complying with the security personnel deployed at court gates.
Lawyers are regularly witnessed arguing with the security personnel while entering court premises. They consider frisking as their insult. Pakistan Today observed a senior lawyer entering the Lahore High Court premises in his car from Turner Road. The police constable deployed on the gate asked him to stop for checking his car. The lawyer snared at constable and refused checking saying that he was a lawyer and his vehicle could not be checked.
The constable allowed him to enter the court premises without being checked. The lawyers also asked the constable to allow the entry of his client’s car in LHC premises, after the constable resisted entry, saying that only lawyers’ cars were allowed inside. Upon lawyer’s ‘unkind’ directions, the constable complied.
LBA observed a three-day strike, demanding government to improve the sessions court security, after which the government started to reinforce security at the court. However, such a behaviour by lawyers, is jeopardizing the court security and is posing security threats, for a terrorist disguised as a lawyer can enter the court premises, using a similar procedure that lawyers use.
The Punjab government has deployed an extra police force at the sessions court and is adopting various other plans to better security at courts, but the need is to rectify lawyers’ behaviour. In this regard, some lawyer’s representative bodies are asking the lawyers to cooperate with the security staff, intimidating them that they will be debarred if they fail to comply.
Barbed wires, metal detectors, police check-posts are of little use if the culture of allowing people to enter, considering their authority, is not wiped out.