The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday clarified that the IHC and district courts remain functional and carrying out their regular court work, a day after lawyers in Islamabad wreaked havoc as they protested the demolition of their illegally built chambers by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
It has been wrongly reported in some sections of the press that the IHC and district courts have been closed indefinitely by the court administration, said a press release issued here, adding that the judges of IHC had been performing their functions and remained present in their respective chambers.
It said the Islamabad Bar Council (IBA), Islamabad High Court Bar Association and District Bar Association had announced a strike. Therefore, in order to avoid inconvenience to the general public and lawyers, the cause lists were cancelled for only one day.
Meanwhile, the security remained on high alert around the buildings of Islamabad High Court (IHC), Judicial Complex and district courts in Sector F-8 on Tuesday. Apart from the police personnel, the troops of anti-terrorism force (ATF) and Rangers were also deployed while the additional personnel were also put on alert to deal with any untoward incident.
The CDA pasted notices on the remaining illegal structures erected by lawyers around district courts, asking them to remove it otherwise the civic body would demolish the structures itself. It should be noted that there are about 600 illegal structures in the football ground of Sector F-8 and more than 100 chambers in the katchehri premises.
It may be mentioned here that a mob of lawyers had on Monday stormed the IHC’s Chief Justice Block and district courts, vandalizing the doors and windows in protest against demolition of illegal structures by the CDA and ICT administration. Two separate FIRs have been registered in Ramna Police Station and Margalla Police Station against the lawyers leading the enraged mob.
