Irked over the failure of lawyers to appear in the Supreme Court (SC), Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi on Monday summoned Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Haroon-ur-Rashid and expressed his strong displeasure over the matter, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The CJP said that while on one hand, petitions were filed for the early hearing of cases, while on the other hand, lawyers did not turn up in the apex court.
“There is also a facility of video link for the lawyers who cannot come to Islamabad,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Justice Shahid Bilal remarked that these days a lot of petitions were landing in court, seeking adjournment of hearings.
The CJP asked the SCBA president to use the platform of the Bar to make it binding on lawyers to appear in court.
The SCBA president proposed that the lawyers not appearing in court must be fined.
However, the chief justice said that the SC would not slap fines for the first time. “You must tell lawyers that they are bound to show up.”
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori