Besides provisional suspension of his license, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to IHC Bar Association Secretary Umair Baloch for ‘professional misconduct and contempt’.
The court suspended Baloch’s license to practice before IHC until the next hearing which is scheduled on December 19.
The IHC took action as Baloch was reported to have been forcing lawyers not to appear before judges as the bar association was observing a strike against alleged violence against the legal fraternity in Lahore a day earlier. The IHC, in its notice copy of which is available with Daily Times, said that Baloch was found forcing the learned advocates to leave the court. “He continued doing so when the court proceedings commenced. He was asked to refrain from disturbing the proceedings and undermining the decorum of the court,” the notice read. “In response, he came to the rostrum and in a tone unbecoming of an enrolled advocate, stated that instead of stopping him, the judges should encourage the strike,” the notice said.
The court’s notice further said that other IHC judges had also reported that Baloch ‘interfered’ with court proceedings. “The aforementioned acts also amounted to depriving the litigants from the right of access to justice.”
When asked by a reporter outside the courtroom about his dialogue with Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Baloch said, “The CJ asked me not to observe strike in the high court, to which I responded, ‘When you (the judge) observed strikes and we used to be your followers, it was acceptable. Now it is not?”
He insisted that the lawyers were holding a ‘peaceful’ protest but were ‘attacked’ by the doctors. He went on to say that the lawyers’ reaction was in ‘self-defence’. He also criticised the media for ‘one-sided’ coverage and warned that he will ‘impose restrictions’ over journalists’ entry in the IHC premises. “As a general secretary, I am warning media that if they continue with their one-sided coverage, I will bar you from the Islamabad High Court,” he said.
