Courts’ work remains disturbed due to lawyers’ strike

2026-01-26 - 23:14

Lawyers of the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) and the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) staged protest rallies on Monday outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and in the premises of district courts against the arrest and sentencing of their lawyer colleagues Imaan Zainab Mazari and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, in the controversial social media posts case. Lawyers’ representatives, including from the Islamabad High Court Bar Association and Islamabad District Bar Association, voiced deep concerns over the actions and urged abstention from court proceedings on the strike day. The protest outside the IHC was led by IHC Bar President Syed Wajid Ali Gilani. Due to lawyers’ strike court work remained disturbed and lawyers appeared only in urgent matters. Senior lawyer Babar Awan and a large number of advocates from the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), High Court Bar and District Bar also participated in the protest. They carried banners reading “Justice for Lawyers” and raised slogans against the police. Addressing the gathering, Babar Awan said “state and police terrorism” was being carried out against lawyers, adding that such actions were harmful for society. Due to the protest, strict security arrangements were made in and around the IHC, with a heavy police contingent deployed and armoured vehicles stationed outside the court premises. The issue of the strike also came up during the hearing of a civil case before the IHC Chief Justice Sarfaraz Dogar. Advocate Qaiser Abbas Gondal informed the court that the bar had called for a strike due to the arrest of lawyers. When the chief justice inquired which lawyers had been arrested, Gondal replied that Imaan Mazari and Hadi Chattha had been taken into custody. The chief justice then asked whether they were considered lawyers. Gondal kept quiet at the query. CJ Dogar observed that if the bar considered them lawyers, their representatives could convey their stance in chambers. In a separate statement, IHCBA Secretary Manzoor Jajja said lawyers were requested not to appear in court as part of the strike. He announced that lawyers would proceed to the district courts in a convoy and later gather again to record their protest.