LAHORE: The Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) on Thursday suspended the practising licence of Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq for representing TikToker Rajab Butt before a Karachi court despite a strike called by the local bar.<\/p>\n
The strike had been called in protest against the alleged victimisation of the Karachi Bar Association\u2019s former librarian, Naseer Muhammad Kalhoro. During the strike, judicial proceedings were strictly prohibited within the city courts\u2019 premises.<\/p>\n
According to an order issued by PbBC Executive Committee\u2019s Chairman Zabiullah Nagra, the action was taken after receiving a letter from the president and general secretary of the Karachi Bar Association.<\/p>\n
The letter drew the council\u2019s attention to a \u201cvideo circulating on social media in which Advocate Ashfaq was seen appearing before the Karachi City Courts while representing TikToker Rajab Butt during an ongoing lawyers\u2019 strike,\u201d said Nagra.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt further observed that the advocate appeared before the courts despite the strike, allegedly accompanied by private guards or individuals in clear violation of the strike restrictions and the established canons of the legal profession,\u201d the order stated.<\/p>\n
It further noted that while defending his client, the advocate made statements against the legal fraternity, which the PbBC described as \u201cserious professional impropriety\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese remarks reportedly caused divisions within the legal fraternity, leading to confrontation and discord among lawyers,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
As per the order, Advocate Ashfaq\u2019s conduct created an \u201catmosphere of dispute and disharmony, gravely damaging the reputation, unity and collective integrity of the legal community\u201d.<\/p>\n
Examining his professional record, the order said that Advocate Ashfaq was registered as an advocate with the PbBC in 2010 and the high court in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a practising lawyer,\u201d the council asserted that Advocate Ashfaq was \u201cduty bound to uphold the dignity and high standing of the legal profession at all times\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe executive committee unanimously decided to suspend Advocate Ashfaq\u2019s licence to practice law with immediate effect,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The committee also referred the matter to the disciplinary committee of the council for further proceedings regarding the permanent cancellation of the licence in accordance with law.<\/p>\n
Talking to Dawn, Nagra said the PbBC, as a statutory regulatory body, was not required to issue a prior notice before suspending a lawyer\u2019s licence in cases involving professional misconduct.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery enrolled advocate is presumed to have full knowledge of the code of conduct prescribed under the Bar Council rules and is duty-bound to comply with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Council\u2019s executive committee chairman added that the lawyer concerned had been found involved in activities \u201cunbecoming of a member of the legal profession\u201d for quite some time.<\/p>\n
On Monday, YouTuber Rajab Butt was physically assaulted at a sessions court in Karachi during the hearing of a case registered against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LAHORE: The Punjab Bar Council (PbBC) on Thursday suspended the practising licence of Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq for representing TikToker Rajab Butt before a Karachi court despite a strike called by the local bar. The strike had been called in protest against the alleged victimisation of the Karachi Bar Association\u2019s former librarian, Naseer Muhammad Kalhoro. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court-and-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14803,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14801\/revisions\/14803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}