‘Mess with someone your own size’

Punjab Bar council (PBC) has issued notice to a local lawyer Advocate Afaq Ahmed for suspension of his practice license after the lawyer moved a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking removal of Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa for campaigning in favour of Seriaki province in Southern Punjab. The Pakistan People’s Party-backed disciplinary committee of the PBC held a meeting on Thursday to restore an old case against Ahmed so that he may be stopped from the appearing in the any court as a lawyer. Per details, the disciplinary committee issued notice to Ahmed for December 19 to appear before for proceedings in inquiry pending against him since 2005.
In the meeting the committee perused record which revealed that the LHC had suspended Ahmed’s license on July 18, 2000 in a criminal reference against him. The LHC judgment sent the reference to PBC for proceeding against him under section 41 of the legal Practitioners & Bar Councils Act, 1973. However Ahmed had moved an appeal in the Supreme Court against suspension of his license by LHC but the SC dismissed his appeal on October, 16, 2000 upholding the LHC’s verdict of suspending his license. At the same time the reference remained pending before PBC for restoration of his license. However Ahmed appeared before then PBC vice chairman on January 18, 2005 and submitted an application for restoration of his license making a misstatement that PBC disciplinary committee had dropped the matter so his license may be restored. So his license was restored by then vice chairman without seeking the record.
On Thursday, the sitting disciplinary committee held that Ahmed had concealed facts from the then vice chairman and thus the order for restoration of his license was illegal and without jurisdiction as he could not give order in a matter assigned to disciplinary committee.
The meeting held under chair of Sh Abdul Ghaffar, chairman disciplinary committee PBC, has unanimously decided that only disciplinary committee could restore license of the respondent advocate and not vice chairman so Ahmed’s license still stands suspended and he will face the reference before PBC on Dec 19.