- The federal government should act
By: Sheraz Zaka
Silence of the Lambs was a blockbuster Hollywood movie released in 1991. It brought us the character of FBI trainee Clarice Starling who was constantly haunted by the screaming of the lambs during a traumatic childhood in which she got terrified by the slaughtering of lambs on her relative’s farm in Montana. She believed that by killing a serial killer nicknamed as Buffalo Bill and saving young women from his nefarious activities, she would be doing good for the society which would eventually help her to get rid of her nightmares.
The incident at Punjab Institute of Cardiology, where some lawyers ransacked it, resulted in the deaths of three innocent civilians, will be a nightmare for all those aspiring lawyers who believed in the rule of law. These young aspiring lawyers would have to show through their spirit, enthusiasm and discipline that earning money should not be the only goal to enter into this profession, and instead they should devote themselves selflessly towards the cause of helping people in their just causes. Only in this way can the lawyers transform their image in the public, so that people know that lawyers are agents of change rather goons.
A lawyer must understand that he is considered an officer of court and hence he has a duty to adhere to the standards and duties of a lawyer laid down in the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules and Acts. The lawyers’ conduct on December 11 at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore grossly infringed the code of ethics provided in the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973 and constituted an offence punishable under the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.
The sole responsibility is upon the young lawyers who, by their actions and pro-bono litigation services, can prove that people belonging to this profession are agents of change who think of humanity first
I will not flinch to say that the entire responsibility for the disgraceful incident falls on the bar council involved— the Punjab Bar Council. By virtue of section 41 of the 1973 act, a provincial bar council can suspend or remove a lawyer from practice or can order a lawyer to pay an amount as compensation, fine or penalty if a lawyer is found guilty of professional misconduct. Nevertheless, the so-called disciplinary committees of the provincial bar councils have never performed their duties nor exercised their powers in letter and in spirit. In 2018, the Higher Education Commission verifications showed that the LLB degrees of more than 205 lawyers were fake.
On 11 December, the lawyers did not even spare the provincial information minister or media persons, torched a police van, fired gunshots and pelted police with bricks and stones. These disgraceful actions from a professional community which represents the law and constitution of a democratic country has made the nation hang its heads in shame and remorse; all and all it became a shambolic affair. No one is above law. It is time to have the rule of law and not tribalism. Hence, no one should go scot-free. All involved, who are easily identifiable including a nephew of the Prime Minister, alleged to have been involved, should be barred from practising and be prosecuted. This tragic incident would go down in the history of Pakistan as a black day where people with black coats caused embarrassment and dismay to all Pakistanis. We know very well about this ‘black coat group’, where they grouped and committed such unruly acts, and it is shocking that the elected representatives of bar councils are protecting the goons involved in this vandalism, just to secure their petty political gain and patronage from these lawyers. We do not need to name anybody or a group which backed them and for what purpose. Lawyers and doctors associations should hold peaceful rallies together in all cities, apart from Lahore, and show us that we have professionals who think of humanity first. It is time for the federal government to take this responsibility to guide those who are on the wrong path and especially suspend the licenses of those lawyers involved in this rowdyism. Under the fourth schedule of the legislative list mentioned in the constitution 1973, the legal profession is a federal subject; hence one crucial step at this juncture the federal government can take is to make an amendment in the Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Act and confer the power of suspending a lawyer’s license on the federal government or law ministry, rather than leaving it with the provincial bar council.
In my view this is a perfect case for taking suo motu action by the Chief Justice of Pakistan under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. The CJP must direct the Punjab Bar Council to suspend the licenses of these lawyers involved in this hooliganism. Last but not least, this is a sheer failure of the Punjab government that it could not prevent the ransacking of the hospital and the situation of this disorderliness and anarchy. However, now the sole responsibility is upon the young lawyers who, by their actions and pro-bono litigation services, can prove that people belonging to this profession are agents of change who think of humanity first. Otherwise the horrifying vandalism witnessed at PIC would be constantly haunting us like akin to what we saw in the movie Silence of the Lambs.
The writer can be contacted at [email protected]
