LAHORE: Lawyers on Saturday demanded resignation of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and that he should be made to attend corruption cases against him before the accountability court. The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) office-bearers also announced to call all parties conference on December 16 on prevailing political situation in the country, especially on anti-judiciary campaign by the PML-N leaders. LHCBA President Ch Zulfiqar Ali, Secretary Amir Saeed Rawn, Vice President Rashid Lodhi and Finance Secretary Zaheer Butt addressed a joint press conference in which they renewed the pledge to defend judiciary at any cost. They said they would defeat the nefarious designs of all those accused of corruption and would never let them undermine the authority and dignity of the judiciary. Ch Zulfiqar said that the wrong policies of the rulers had dragged the country to corruption and poverty and now they should be held accountable for their corruption and malpractices. He said that the only option with Ishaq Dar was to resign as finance minister immediately and then face the corruption case. A person accused of corruption could not become a cabinet member, he added. He condemned Nawaz Sharif’s statements, which he had made after being held disqualified that he would be elected as a member of parliament once again. He said that everyone was bound to pay due regard to judiciary. Lodhi deplored that after disqualification, Nawaz Sharif’s attitude was like of a hardened criminal, who always had justification for his crimes. He said that the one who looted the national exchequer did not deserve any sympathy. He said that disqualified Nawaz Sharif was holding meetings of the federal cabinet at his Jati Umra residence and it was an insult to democracy. He said that the law and the courts were equal for everyone and an attack on judiciary by a convicted person was of no avail. Aamir Rawn deplored that disqualified Nawaz Sharif was earning a bad name to the country by resorting to character assassination of state institutions, which was against the basic norms of democracy. He also demanded resignation of all federal ministers involved in cancellation of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat declaration. He said that it was really sad that the whole government machinery had been out to protect a disqualified prime minister, and had abandoned the people. He said that the people had elected parliamentarians to protect their rights, not a convicted person. Published in Daily Times, November 19th 2017.