Gujranwala police have booked at least 30 lawyers -- members of Wazirabad Bar Association-- for allegedly roughing up a constable who was deployed outside the sessions court in Waziriabad.
The FIR [first information report] registered on the complaint of the constable on Sunday at Wazirabad Saddar police station implicated 10 identified and 20 unidentified lawyers under sections 382, 353, 186, 149, and 147 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The incident occurred on Saturday when police constable Muhammad Anwar asked an advocate not to park his vehicle in front of the sessions court building as it would restrict movement. However, the lawyer refused to do so and went inside the building. After a while, the lawyer came back with a group of lawyers, including the secretary general of the Waziristan Bar Association, and roughed up the constable.
The FIR said that the lawyers snatched the victim's rifle and started beating and verbally abusing him, adding the uniform of the policeman was torn as well.
Dawn newspaper quoting the police constable said he had only asked the lawyer not to park the motorcycle in front of the barrier in front of the court because it would restrict movement. “In previous incidents, no action was taken against the lawyers and it had become routine for them (police) to be humiliated,” he told the newspaper.
The Gujranwala Bar Association, on the other hand, claimed that the constable had misbehaved with an elderly lawyer, which sparked the dispute.
Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shoaib Dastgir also took notice of the incident and directed authorities to register the case and also sought its report.
Lawyers involved in violence:
This is not the first time that the lawyer community of Pakistan was the perpetrator of violence. The members of the legal attacked hospitals, government buildings, and beat up litigants and judges in past.
In Dec last year, the Punjab Institute of Cardiology had been attacked by lawyers who beat up doctors and broke into the emergency ward. The lawyers were protesting a recent incident of an altercation between doctors and lawyers. The lawyers got violent and barged into the hospital, breaking the windows of cars parked at the premises.
Lawyers had broken into the emergency ward and beat up doctors, nurses, and even patients and journalists. The lawyers had also damaged operating machinery and broke cameras and phones of patients and journalists recording the incident.
The conflict between lawyers and doctors continued as lawyers laid siege to a government hospital of Pasrur in Sialkot in the same month, causing doctors to flee for safety. According to media reports, following the attack on Punjab Institute of Cardiology, lawyers had surrounded the Tehsil Headquarter Hospital Pasrur In Sialkot district.
In Oct 2019, a woman was assaulted by lawyers outside a local court in Narowal’s Shakargarh. Police had confirmed to media that a fight had occurred between lawyers and a woman, named Amrat, who had come to the court for a hearing. The woman, a resident of Shahpur Bhangu, had claimed that the lawyers misbehaved with her.
In June 2019, an anti-terrorism court of Faisalabad had awarded collective imprisonment of 18 years to Advocate Imran Manj under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for attacking a judge. The convict had attacked Civil Judge Khalid Mahmood for not extending him favour in a personal criminal case. The sentence was later suspended by the high court, according to Dawn.
The FIR [first information report] registered on the complaint of the constable on Sunday at Wazirabad Saddar police station implicated 10 identified and 20 unidentified lawyers under sections 382, 353, 186, 149, and 147 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The incident occurred on Saturday when police constable Muhammad Anwar asked an advocate not to park his vehicle in front of the sessions court building as it would restrict movement. However, the lawyer refused to do so and went inside the building. After a while, the lawyer came back with a group of lawyers, including the secretary general of the Waziristan Bar Association, and roughed up the constable.
The FIR said that the lawyers snatched the victim's rifle and started beating and verbally abusing him, adding the uniform of the policeman was torn as well.
Dawn newspaper quoting the police constable said he had only asked the lawyer not to park the motorcycle in front of the barrier in front of the court because it would restrict movement. “In previous incidents, no action was taken against the lawyers and it had become routine for them (police) to be humiliated,” he told the newspaper.
The Gujranwala Bar Association, on the other hand, claimed that the constable had misbehaved with an elderly lawyer, which sparked the dispute.
Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shoaib Dastgir also took notice of the incident and directed authorities to register the case and also sought its report.
Lawyers involved in violence:
This is not the first time that the lawyer community of Pakistan was the perpetrator of violence. The members of the legal attacked hospitals, government buildings, and beat up litigants and judges in past.
In Dec last year, the Punjab Institute of Cardiology had been attacked by lawyers who beat up doctors and broke into the emergency ward. The lawyers were protesting a recent incident of an altercation between doctors and lawyers. The lawyers got violent and barged into the hospital, breaking the windows of cars parked at the premises.
Lawyers had broken into the emergency ward and beat up doctors, nurses, and even patients and journalists. The lawyers had also damaged operating machinery and broke cameras and phones of patients and journalists recording the incident.
The conflict between lawyers and doctors continued as lawyers laid siege to a government hospital of Pasrur in Sialkot in the same month, causing doctors to flee for safety. According to media reports, following the attack on Punjab Institute of Cardiology, lawyers had surrounded the Tehsil Headquarter Hospital Pasrur In Sialkot district.
In Oct 2019, a woman was assaulted by lawyers outside a local court in Narowal’s Shakargarh. Police had confirmed to media that a fight had occurred between lawyers and a woman, named Amrat, who had come to the court for a hearing. The woman, a resident of Shahpur Bhangu, had claimed that the lawyers misbehaved with her.
In June 2019, an anti-terrorism court of Faisalabad had awarded collective imprisonment of 18 years to Advocate Imran Manj under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code for attacking a judge. The convict had attacked Civil Judge Khalid Mahmood for not extending him favour in a personal criminal case. The sentence was later suspended by the high court, according to Dawn.