RAWALPINDI – Lawyers on Wednesday thrashed journalist Khalil Malik when he came here to a court to explain his position about a column that appeared in an Urdu Daily Shura some two months ago.

The lawyers community took the column as offensive and Advocate High Court Rafaqat Bashir Awan moved the court saying that Khalil Malik’s piece of writing had insulting remarks for lawyers.
As a result, Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Imtiaz asked Chief Editor Daily Shura Khalil Malik, Editor Sajawal Khan and Associate Editor Sehr Siddique to appear before the court in a defamation case.
Later, he submitted his unconditional apology in writing to the court in the defamation case.
The complainant Advocate Rafaqat Bashir accused that Khalil Malik used appalling and disgraceful language against lawyers and insulted the whole legal community in his column titled “wookla ki tehrik ka baatin” published in Daily Shura on June 4.
The appellant said that Malik not only defamed the lawyers’ community as a whole but also tried to create rift among them.
To explain his position, when Khalil Malik came here to appear before the court, a large number of lawyers gathered outside the court to express their resentment over the piece of writing, maligning their struggle for independence of judiciary. On this occasion, some lawyers assaulted Khalil Malik and thrashed him but senior lawyers tried to save the writer and rushed him to the retiring room of judges where they encircled him.
After this, Khalil Malik apologised to the lawyers in his written statement for hurting their sentiments. After his apology, the complainant withdrew his case.
Police was also called to provide the journalist safe passage to leave the court.
Talking to TheNation, Advocate Rafaqat Bashir said that the lawyers got angry after the writer insisted on verbal apology while his colleagues wanted an unconditional apology in writing.
He further said that he asked Khalil to submit his apology and or face the litigation but the writer delayed in seeking pardon.
He denied that everybody present there attacked the writer and said many lawyers including himself tried to save him.
Source: The Nation
Date:7/26/2007