The District Bar Association in Abbottabad announced plans to hold a convention across the Hazara region next week to broaden its protest against the assistant commissioner. The lawyers say they will pursue the matter through legal channels and will not accept what they describe as unlawful conduct by the official.
The dispute centres on a water filtration plant being installed at the district courts complex under a project authorised by the Peshawar High Court. The bar association alleges that on September 1, the assistant commissioner arrived at the construction site with several individuals, halted the work, and had part of the structure demolished. The lawyers claim a court employee was assaulted when attempting to explain the judicial nature of the project, and that lawyers who arrived at the scene were threatened and intimidated.
The bar further alleges that revenue officials staged a demonstration against the judiciary and lawyers after allegedly being directed to do so by the assistant commissioner. When the bar held a subsequent peaceful procession, the association says individuals gathered near a building and threw stones at the lawyers, injuring the bar secretary and others. The bar leadership said it will file charges under criminal procedure law against the assistant commissioner and his associates over the alleged use of force and injuries.