Police have filed a case against 70 lawyers and 150 to 200 unidentified individuals following a clash at the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged at the Secretariat Police Station based on a complaint by Syed Wajid Ali Shah Gillani, the president of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA).
After registering the case, police obtained arrest warrants and conducted raids at the residences of 11 nominated lawyers. By evening, 17 raids had been carried out in the capital, but all were unsuccessful as the nominated individuals had gone into hiding to avoid arrest. Authorities are also reviewing CCTV footage from around the IHC to identify other people involved in the incident.
According to the FIR, Advocate Gillani saw a mob of 60 to 70 lawyers and 150 to 200 unidentified people in the parking area outside the IHCBA office. The group was chanting slogans against the IHC chief justice, state institutions, and the army. When Gillani asked them to stop, they allegedly “attacked and manhandled him,” verbally abused him, and threatened him. He was rescued by IHCBA office-bearers and staff, after which the group dispersed.
In a post on her X account, Shireen Mazari claimed that a heavily armed police team from the Secretariat Police Station surrounded her house at 1 a.m. and asked for her daughter, Imaan Mazari, and Hadi Ali Chatha. She wrote that they were not there, and the police informed her that there was an FIR against them and they should report to the police station. In another post, Mazari stated that videos of the protest prove the charges in the FIR are false, adding that the persecution of her daughter and Hadi has become a “daily routine.”
Reports indicate that the lawyers had initially organized a protest at the IHC to oppose the suspension of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri from his judicial duties. Tensions escalated after the demonstration, when PTI-affiliated lawyers confronted the IHCBA president.
