ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) is authorised to interfere if any state organ transgresses its parameters spelt out in the Constitution. This blunt warning was issued by none other than the top judge of the country. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Muhammad Iftikhar Chaudhry, was addressing a ceremony to mark the New Judicial Year here on Monday.
“The Constitution is supreme. Therefore, it is constitutionally binding on all state organs to work within the parameters laid down in the Constitution. Heavy responsibility rests with the judiciary to ensure all the state departments remain and work within their ambit while exercising their powers and discharging their obligations. Under the Constitution, the supreme judiciary is empowered to interfere whenever any state organ oversteps the prescribed limits,” he said. “We are a democratic country and we have a written Constitution in place by the grace of Almighty Allah. We can feel proud of our Constitution as it was approved in parliament with the consensus of all the political parties. A scheme on the distribution of powers among all the departments and institutions is enshrined in the Constitution. Responsibilities of these organs have been defined in the Constitution so that they could not interfere in the jurisdiction of each other,” he remarked.
Oath taken by the judges of high courts and the Supreme Court makes it binding on them to protect, defend and uphold the Constitution, he said, adding the judges of the superior judiciary were constitutionally bound to keep a check on the steps taken by other institutions of the state.
The court wanted that political institutions, elected representatives and government officials should perform their duties in a befitting manner which was very critical for good governance, socio-economic development and political development, he observed.
Indicating that a guaranteed tenure would truly transform superior judiciary’s working, the chief justice said that independence of the judiciary could not be achieved until the judges are allowed to work without any fear of tenure. The chief justice also regretted that the “constitutional consultees” for the appointment of judges at the superior judiciary were heavily pressurised during the past one month for selection of certain persons. However, he said, no one succumbed to the pressure and the selection was made purely on merit.
The country’s top judge said the independence of judiciary is inextricably linked to the constitutional process of appointment of judges. In the past, he said, an attempt was made to disturb the independence of judiciary by fixing the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justices of high courts through the Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act 1976, which was not accepted by the general public and resultantly it has to be omitted through Item 34 of the Schedule to the PO No 14 of 1985.
The chief justice said that similar efforts had been made from time to time to change the retirement age of the judges of the superior judiciary. “All such acts were perpetuated to interdict the independence of judiciary,” he added.
The chief justice said the Supreme Judicial Council has been reactivated and it is taking up complaints of misconduct and corruption. He said that a new article has been added in the code of conduct for the judges of superior judiciary to guard against unwarranted interference from the executive through unconstitutional or extra-constitutional measures.
However, President Supreme Court Bar Association Ali Ahmad Kurd, in his address, said that “nothing has changed since the restoration of the deposed judiciary”. He said there was still the same practice, the same attitude and behaviour of judges from top to the bottom.
He said they were facing Pharaoh-minded people in the courts who gave weight and importance to disposal of cases rather than doing justice. He also regretted that the judges granted leave in a very limited number of petitions and rejected others without a passionate hearing. He said lawyers were very responsible persons and they could not even think to waste precious time of the court by filing frivolous petitions.
Chief Justice Mohammad Iftikhar Chaudhry said that after the restoration of judiciary, the people of the country were looking towards the judiciary to take such steps, which will close the door for any intruder to step in and abrogate the Constitution. The Chief Justice said that the July 31 verdict of the apex court has not only imposed restriction on the dictators but the members of the judiciary have also been restrained from providing protection to the unconstitutional acts of the usurpers by taking oath under any unconstitutional instrument.
Attorney General of Pakistan Sardar Latif Khan Khosa lauded the efforts made by the superior judiciary for the sake of rule of law and the Constitution, but said there was much more to be done in this regard.
He urged the courts to redress the burden of backlog of pending cases, and drew attention to the discontent of multinational companies over their dispute resolution. He also urged the courts to encourage alternate dispute resolution mechanism to enhance rate of disposal of cases.
Khosa stressed the need of merit for the appointment of judges in the superior judiciary, saying the credibility and performance of the judiciary was directly proportionate to the quality of judicial appointments.
source : www.thenews.com.pk
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