Lawyers of the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) staged a protest outside the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Saturday against the recently enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment.
The controversial amendment, which resulted in the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), was approved by Parliament amid opposition protests.
It has also been criticized by some legal experts as a means to dethrone the Supreme Court (SC) as the country’s highest judicial forum, ceding that position to the FCC.
Former and acting judgesas well as lawyersexpressed opposition to the amendment, citing in particular its impact on the SC. Hours after the amendment was approved issued On November 13, two SC judges resignedciting his reservations on the matter. The two judges were Athar Minallah and Mansoor Ali Shah, who was the senior judge of the Supreme Court at that time.
Today, the lawyers started their protest outside the SHC premises chanting slogans against the amendment and then entered the high court premises.
Footage showed some lawyers engaged in a fight with police personnel. After the fight, police personnel stepped back and allowed the protest to continue. There were reports of some minor injuries to police officers.
The lawyers entered the Bar Association hall of the Sindh High Court and continued their protest raising slogans against the amendment and the government. They later held their demonstration outside the bar after the power was cut.
The KBA had last week observed a full-day strike in the subordinate judiciary to protest the passage of the amendment and to express solidarity with retired judges. It also observed a full-day strike on Monday, during which litigants were not allowed to enter municipal court facilities and proceedings were postponed due to the boycott.
The KBA had indicated that from Tuesday to Saturday (today) “symbolic strikes will be observed starting at 11 in the morning.”
