A non-governmental organisation (NGO) providing free legal assistance to disadvantaged prisoners announced on Friday that it would discontinue provision of legal support to inmates and close down its offices in the premises of prisons across Karachi, following which the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) called off its protest that was scheduled to be held on August 20 (today) against the NGO.
The NGO, headed by Justices (retd) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui and Nasir Aslam Zahid, was offering free legal aid to underprivileged prisoners and litigants who were unable to bear the expenses of hiring lawyers to defend them. However, while presenting a written agreement during a press conference held at the KBA office on Friday, Dr Farrukh Naseem announced on behalf of Justice (retd) Zahid that the NGO has decided to discontinue its services considering the prolonged demand of the lawyers who had wanted to remove its offices from the premises of district courts and prisons.
Following the announcement, KBA’s President Muhammad Aqil, General Secretary Haider Imam Rizvi and other office-bearers called off their protest that was scheduled to be held today against the NGO. Rizvi said that a hearing is scheduled to be held on August 23 in a suo motu notice taken by the Sindh High Court (SHC) chief justice regarding the NGO’s operations in the premises of courts and prisons, adding that an application would be submitted to dispose of the case as both the parties have resolved the dispute by reaching an out-of-court settlement.
It is pertinent to mention here that on the instructions of the SHC, the South District and Sessions judge had transferred all family cases for mediation to the Karachi Centre for Dispute Resolution, which was headed by Justice (retd) Siddiqui. Following the decision, lawyers had launched a protest campaign against the operations of the NGO, and the dispute grew in intensity after the office of the NGO was ransacked at the city court.
Representatives of the civil society denounced the attack widely, stating that such NGOs are struggling only to support poor prisoners and litigants who lack moral and material strength to fight for their right to maintenance, inheritance, separation, custody or bail as well as ensuring that the real criminals are convicted of the wrong done to the inmates or their relatives.
However, lawyers were worried due to the growing role of such NGOs that have been providing free legal assistance to underprivileged prisoners. Nevertheless, the prolonged dispute between the lawyers and the NGO came to an end after the latter’s decision to close down its offices in the premises of prisons across the city.
