ISLAMABAD   -  A four-member larger bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday declared that the chambers built for lawyers on a sports ground in the capital’s F-8 sector were “illegally constructed” and directed the relevant authorities to remove them.

The unanimous verdict was announced by a four-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah and comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

In the written order, authored by Justice Athar said the Islamic Republic of Pakistan became a reality as an independent sovereign state after a long drawn struggle, heroically led by the dynamic leader, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The founder was a lawyer by profession. He was enrolled as an Advocate of the Bombay High Court on 24th of August 1896 and in a short time he was acknowledged as an artist of the legal profession.

He remarked that they can rightly take pride in the fact that they pursue the same profession that the Quaid had adopted. But, simultaneously, this pride is not without responsibilities and duties. There is far greater obligation on a professional lawyer in Pakistan to demonstrably show commitment to upholding the dignity of the profession. 

The IHC bench noted that in the case in hand, the purported allotments made by the Islamabad District Bar in the playground or elsewhere were without lawful authority and jurisdiction, besides exposing the office bearers who were involved in such illegal acts to disciplinary proceedings for misconduct. 

Likewise, the enrolled Advocates who had accepted the purported illegal allotments had also no lawful justification to construct chambers on state land. The IHC Chief Justice stated that since a small fraction of the total number of members of the Islamabad District Bar are beneficiaries of the illegal construction of chambers, therefore, we are confident that as a gesture towards the actual stakeholders i.e. the general public, the members of the Bar will clear the illegal construction and restore the playground for public use. 

“In case the playground is not restored by or before the 28th of February 2021, then the Federal Government and the Capital Development Authority will restore the playground for the use of the public before the 23rd of March, 2021. 

The Federal Government shall make arrangements for holding a football tournament amongst students of public schools on the Pakistan Day i.e. 23rd of March 2021, to give tribute to the greatest lawyer of the sub-continent and founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” maintained Justice Athar. 

The IHC CJ also said that the Federal Government shall enquire into the inaction of the public functionaries and proceed against those officials who were responsible for depriving the general public from exercising the constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The bench observed that the status of an enrolled Advocate in a society is extraordinary and unique. They are foot soldiers of no one except the Constitution and the law. They have the distinction of being members of the most noble amongst the professions. They are guardians of the Constitution and law. Their professional obligation requires each member of the legal fraternity to serve the society. The profession is not a business but service to the society and the nation. It is the duty of every enrolled Advocate to act in the best interest of the society, having regard to strict compliance with the enforced laws.