Pakistani Lawyer Sets Courtroom Seat On Fire Over Delayed Judgment

A lawyer allegedly set fire to his courtroom seat in Pakistan's Hyderabad city on Thursday in protest after a judge declined to pronounce a judgment that had been reserved for nearly 11 months, officials said.

The dramatic incident took place after Sindh High Court's Hyderabad Circuit Bench Justice Jawad Akbar Sawana said he would not issue the reserved judgment in a civil land dispute case from Nawabshah.

Sikander Bhatti, who was representing one of the parties in the case, allegedly set his official court seat on fire following the announcement, according to officials.

"The judgement has been pending for the last 11 months, and lawyer Sikander Bhatti finally lost his patience today in court," Ayaz Tunio, president of the Hyderabad High Court Bar Association, said.

He said the association would conduct an inquiry into the incident, adding that several reserved judgments had been pending before Justice Sawana for months, leaving litigants frustrated.

A court source said Bhatti was particularly agitated as the case involved his own family and concerned a land dispute that had been pending for several years in Nawabshah.

Tunio said lawyers had met Justice Sawana in his chambers in recent days and requested him to consider pronouncing the judgments reserved in several cases.

The incident comes amid growing concerns over delays and a backlog of cases in Pakistan's courts.

In recent months, tensions have also been reported between lawyers' bodies and the Sindh police over various issues, leading to protests and clashes.

Thursday's incident, however, brought renewed attention to the frustration among litigants and lawyers over prolonged delays in the disposal of civil and criminal cases in Pakistani courts.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)