Another complaint filed as SJC begins hearing today.

ISLAMABAD: The legal fraternity stands divided on the boycott of courts in protest against a misconduct reference being taken up by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Friday (today) against Supreme Court's Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

The call for strike, which comes amidst the filing of another application for a new reference against Justice Isa, was jointly given by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). However, some groups of the Punjab Bar Council and the Lahore Bar Association have announced to boycott the strike call given by the apex lawyer bodies.

The application for a new reference against Justice Isa has been submitted by Lahore-based lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt, which states that the apex court judge violated the code of conduct for members of the judiciary by 'writing letter to the president of Pakistan and sharing it with the media'. "While writing letter to the president of Pakistan and sharing it with the media, Justice Isa appears to have committed gross misconduct and is liable to be removed upon the recommendation of the SJC in terms of Article-209 of the constitution of Pakistan," the application read.

"Choosing a public forum for voicing his personal and subjective views and opinions, Justice Isa denounced the judiciary of this country as a whole, he targeted the chief executive (prime minister) of the country and used offensive language to criticise the matter," read the application, which was also sent to President Arif Alvi and the Supreme Court registrar. "By levelling all such allegations publically without substantiating the same, Justice Isa has violated various articles of the Code of Conduct issued by the Honourable Supreme Judicial Council under the mandate of Article-209(8) of the constitution," it added.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference in the federal capital, SCBA President Amanullah Kanrani said the reference filed against Justice Isa cannot be called an official one in legal terms at present. "The matter, right now, is between the SJC and the Attorney General," he said. "The matter is in its initial stages," he said, and added that till the SJC did not deem it fit enough to make a case for action, the reference is 'just a piece of paper'. He also said that lawyers across Pakistan will boycott the courts on Friday (today).

However, the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) has distanced itself from the...