ISLAMABAD   -  The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (SCBAP) Friday condemned Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema’s announcement to send a reference against Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Justice Jawad Hassan to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

Hafeez-Ur-Rehman Chaudhry, Vice-Chairman, PBC and Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, President SCBAP said that Justice Jawad Hassan is an independent, upright, honest and very competent Judge and was an asset for our superior judiciary and lawyers of Pakistan stand by with him.

They expressed it was very astonishing and alarming that the present Governor Punjab had constantly violated the Constitution, and was ridiculing the office of Governor, deviated from the Constitution and sabotaged the democratic value and norms which had never been happened earlier in the Country since in past such like mindset persons were not allowed to hold such a prestigious and higher Constitutional post and the Governor must be made answerable for his such like statements and actions and be asked under what authority had deviated from the Constitution.

They said that Justice Jawad Hassan was not only independent, honest ad competent judge but was an asset for the superior judiciary and the entire legal fraternity of the Country stands behind him.

They had also condemned the smear campaign launched against the judges and the judiciary in strongest possible terms and stated that no one would be allowed to malign the dignity and respect of judges for petty political gains and further vowed that if it did not stop, then the legal fraternity reserved every right to take punitive action so as to take wrongdoers to the task.