Islamabad, Dec 21 (IANS) A technical fault triggered a fire alarm in the court of the Pakistani chief justice Monday, interrupting procedures and triggering panic among lawyers and litigants.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was hearing an appeal against a verdict of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Court No.1 when the alarm went off, interrupting the case’s proceedings, Online news agency reported.

Chaudhry immediately stopped the proceedings and directed the people present in the courtroom to evacuate and move to safer place. The judges went back to their chambers and all other people were moved to safer places as security personal cordoned off the premises.

After clearing the Supreme Court building, the security staff reported that the alarm had gone off due to the negligence of the supervisory staff.

The court resumed its proceedings after the all-clear was sounded.

The NAB is Pakistan’s apex anti-corruption organisation, charged with the responsibility of eliminating corruption through a holistic approach of awareness, prevention and enforcement.