{
  "id": 2659039,
  "title": "PBC distances itself from ‘political statements’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/pbc-distances-itself-from-political-statements",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-22T21:33:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40436146/pbc-distances-itself-from-political-statements"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Islamabad, Pakistan - The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has made clear that a statement issued by eight of its 23 members does not represent the collective stance of the entire organization. The statement released by the PBC on Saturday emphasized that \"In an institution governed by democratic principles, the minority cannot dictate the position of the majority.\" The PBC must remain above political interests and personal agendas, according to the statement. Eight PBC members, including PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Abdul Sattar Khan, strongly criticized the government's \"blatant, wilful and deliberate violation\" of a Supreme Court order from August 18. The Supreme Court directed the government to relocate former Prime Minister Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital for a medical examination, but the government transferred him to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) instead. The PBC strongly denounced the statement from these eight individuals and the statement from the Lahore High Court Bar Association, asserting that these statements \"do not reflect the collective views, position, or policy of the legal fraternity and the institution.\" The PBC, as the apex body of lawyers in Pakistan, firmly believes in the Rule of Law, independence of the judiciary, and the sanctity of constitutional institutions.",
  "summary": "ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) clarified that a statement issued by eight members of the 23-member PBC represents the views of those individual members and cannot be treated as the collective position of the lawyers’ body. The statement issued by Secretary PBC on Saturday said: “In an institution governed by democratic principles, the minority cannot dictate the position of the…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}