A formal reference has been submitted to the Islamabad Bar Council seeking the cancellation of Advocate Imaan Mazari’s licence to practice law. The development was the result of a growing legal and professional dispute involving the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
According to Express News on Tuesday, the reference was filed by Advocate Adnan Iqbal, who has alleged that Mazari is involved in activities ‘deemed to be against the state’. The petitioner has requested the Bar Council to revoke her licence permanently and initiate a formal inquiry.
This development comes in the wake of escalating tensions between Mazari and Chief Justice Sarfaraz Dogar. Last week, a verbal exchange took place during a hearing on a petition seeking the removal of Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Mahrang Baloch’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL), a case in which Mazari appeared as counsel.
During the hearing, CJ Dogar admonished Mazari, stating, “You should keep your mouth shut and stay within the limits of respect,” reportedly in response to Mazari’s remarks, he claimed, were outside the legal scope. He further referred to her as having called him a ‘dictator’ and declined to issue any directive in the matter.
Following the incident, Mazari posted on X: “I was there on behalf of my client, not as activist Imaan Mazari,” adding that she had conducted ‘according to the professional etiquette (and a court should do the same)’.
She has lodged a formal complaint with the IHC’s Women’s Harassment Inquiry Committee, chaired by Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act. In the complaint, she seeks an inquiry into whether Chief Justice Dogar made ‘gender-based and threatening remarks’ towards her.
She has also requested that the matter be forwarded to the competent authority — the Supreme Judicial Council — for further action.
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In a follow-up post on X, Mazari stated: “I have filed an addendum to my initial complaint lodged yesterday with the Supreme Judicial Council against Chief Justice Dogar following the alarming development that took place yesterday where the Honourable Judge who was competent authority for harassment cases was arbitrarily and with mala fide intent altered just a few hours after I had lodged my complaint.”
She was referring to a decision by the IHC in which the court replaced the head of its harassment committee on Monday with the approval of Justice Dogar.
According to sources, Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas has been appointed as the new head of the Women’s Harassment Committee, while Justice Saman Rafat has been removed from the position
A notification had been issued with the chief justice’s approval. Sources said details about the decision to remove Justice Rafat from the role will be released separately.
