Lawyers have been on against AhmedPur East Assistant Commissioner Ahmad Nadeem Hashmi for the fourth consecutive day. The legal practitioners have boycotted both the AC’s office and the courts, causing significant concern among the general public regarding office work delays.
The lawyers organized a protest rally against the AC and surrounded his office. The AC was not present at the scene, and the clerical staff remained hidden.
Addressing the lawyers’ rally, Nazar Islam Advocate, the President of the Bar, said lawyers had a vital role in the rule of law and justice in society’s well-being. He accused the Ahmedpur East AC and his allegedly corrupt staff of flouting the law and disregarding the orders of the highest courts in the country. He declared that their strike would persist until the removal or, at the very least, the transfer of the corrupt AC. He appealed to fellow lawyers not to appear in any court until the AC is dismissed.
Parveen Atta Malik, Secretary-General of the Bar, expressed the lawyers’ commitment to upholding the Constitution and the law. She criticized AC and ADCR Bahawalpur for disrespecting the high court’s orders. Senior lawyer Ahmed Sher Kathia accused both the AC and ADCR Bahawalpur Muhammad Sarwar of not only engaging in corruption but also violating the orders of the highest courts in the country, including the High Court and the Supreme Court. They challenged areas that had injunctions or claims from the Civil Courts, High Court, or Supreme Court, declaring them as property of the Punjab Government and placing them on the official schedule, causing hardship for the common people. He asserted that they would act as a formidable barrier to any bureaucratic actions that contravene the law and the constitution.
Senior leaders of the Young Lawyers Association, including Mian Munim Advocate, Yasir Ansari Advocate, Kashif Iqbal Bhatti Advocate, and Shams Khan Advocate, also addressed the gathering.
Yahya Khan Baloch, an applicant in the AC’s office, highlighted the Supreme Court’s demarcation of his area. He lamented that the court’s orders had been disregarded, and their land had been recorded under the Punjab Government’s name, including their area in the official schedule.
Efforts to contact the AC and ADCR for comments were unsuccessful.
