Balochistan lawyers boycott courts over judges proposed elevation

QUETTA: Lawyers in Balochistan on Monday observed a province-wide boycott of courts to register their protest against the appointment of additional judges in the Balochistan High Court (BHC) and against what they called the unsuitable attitude of members of the judiciary.

Following the call to boycott, lawyers remained absent from the Supreme Court, the High Court and lower courts as a result of which hundreds of cases stood pending throughout the province.Earlier last week, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), in a meeting presided over by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, proposed the names of Balochistan Advocate General Shakil Ahmad Baloch, Mohammad Ijaz and Mohammad Kamran for elevation as judges of the BHC.

However, lawyers contended that the proposal for the elevation of the said judges was not justified, adding that the judges146 attitude towards lawyers inside courtrooms was unsuitable.