In a positive development on June 14, the government through mutual consultations resolved the issue of an 11-day-long standoff between the communities of lawyers and the civil servants.
In a balancing act of crisis management, the government took the bold step of suspending the two central figures in the 11-day-long impasse. Firstly, there was the Additional Assistant Commissioner (AAC), Aftab Ahmad. Secondly, there was the senior lawyer of Peshawar High Court Bar Council, Ghufranullah Khan.
It was stated that these two central figures would remain suspended as long as the unbiased probe into the matter lasted. At this, the lawyers ended their boycott of the proceedings of various courts but said that they would continue their legal struggle to make possible the arrest of the nominated ACC. At the same time, the civil servants called off their strike, saying the government had accepted all their demands, related mostly to their perks and privileges.
Meanwhile, it may be mentioned here that on June 14, lawyers assembled outside the provincial assembly building to take part in the planned sit-in. They were also joined later by the president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Rehmanullah Advocate, vice-president, Ayesha Malik, the general secretary, Mohammad Farooq Afridi and representatives of Pakistan Bar Council as well as the KP Bar Council. According to the East Cantt (Sharqi) police station, no FIR had been registered against any of the protesting lawyers. A spokesman of the KP Bar Council denied reports of the cancellation of the practicing license of any lawyer.