Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered the suspension of licenses of 21 lawyers for ransacking the chamber of Chief Justice Athar Minallah during a protest last month against the demolition of their alleged illegal chambers at the Islamabad District Courts, The Express Tribune reported.
A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case and issued a order saying, “We are of the opinion that the 21 respondents arrayed in the complaint in hand had committed grave acts of indiscipline and misconduct on the February 8.”
This comes after IHC ordered the demolition of illegal chambers of lawyers built on a playground and ordered to restore the playground for public use, The News International reported.
On February 8, the lawyers in Islamabad staged a protest and raised slogans after their chambers at the judicial complex were destroyed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
However, Justice Minallah was reportedly trapped inside his chamber following the incident, reported The Express Tribune.
Additional Attorney General Tariq Mahmood Khokhar said that the storming of the Islamabad High Court by a mob of lawyers was an attack on the judiciary.
On February 9, a case was registered against 32 lawyers, including four women law practitioners, reported The Express Tribune.
It further reported that the First Information Report (FIR) registered at the Ramna police station included Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act besides mob attack causing a threat to life, vandalism, disrupting peace and other relevant clauses of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).