GILGIT: The six-day-long protest sit-in of Gilgit-Baltistan lawyers outside the Chief Minister’s House ended on Saturday after the government assured them that their key rdemands would be accepted.

The Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council, GB Supreme Court Bar Association, GB High Court Bar Association and District Bar Associations had jointly given the call for protest.

HCBA Secretary General Advocate Islamuddin told Dawn that lawyers in the region had been protesting for the past 10 months, boycotting court proceedings and holding rallies. They had also blocked the River View Road.

The protesting lawyers said they had been demanding their rights, including the long-delayed induction of judges in the GB Supreme Appellate Court, the establishment of special courts such as family and consumer courts, advertisement of vacant civil judge posts, and the separation of judicial magistrate from civil judge positions in line with practice elsewhere in the country, with appointments made from the legal fraternity on merit.


The legal fraternity sought judicial reforms, appointments and court expansion

They also demanded financial grants and allotment of plots to GB lawyers, appointments of legal advisers in government and non-government organisations, extension of the Lawyers Protection Act to GB, and separation of the offices of prosecutor general and advocate general.

A delegation of lawyers met GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan on Friday to discuss the issues. Senior lawyer Asadullah Khan, who led the delegation, said the lawyers also expressed reservations about the appointment of retired judges in the GB Supreme Appellate Court.

Please Login to post a comment.