Member Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and head of Lawyers’ Professional Group Hamid Khan has vowed that lawyers will not accept any unconstitutional step and will resist a military coup by launching another movement. Addressing a press conference at the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), he said lawyers were the protectors of the constitution. On the occasion, he also announced Aslam Buttar as the group’s candidate for LHCBA’s upcoming election. He said an independent judiciary should give decision independently and the government should abide by them. He said the bar association should resolve its issues on its own and abstain from becoming the stooge of governments, because independent bar associations could guarantee the judiciary’s independence.Responding to a question on the memogate scandal, he dispelled the impression that the Supreme Court did not have the jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the issue. He was of the view that courts were fully empowered to take up such issues. Answering another question, he said the president’s physical and mental condition could be determined by a medical board constituted by the parliament. He added that parliament had the power to impeach the president. Aslam Buttar said lawyers had always played the frontrunner’s role against military dictatorships, while political parties only sought lame excuses. He said he would keep on pinpointing widespread corruption in the subordinate judiciary, while dismissing the notion that he sought Asma Jahangir’s support for his election.
