Not part of any plan: CJP

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar on Saturday blasted the critics and dispelled the notion that the Supreme Court is under pressure and taking dictation.

“No one has born so far to pressurise the judiciary. We are not part of any larger plan and we make all the decisions on merit and in accordance with the law,” he said.

He was addressing a seminar on “Seeking Justice, Challenges and their Solution” organised by Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) here at a local hotel. "I say on oath that there is no pressure on judiciary. All the decisions are made by the judges in accordance with their conscience and the law," he added.

He said the judiciary is like an elderly wise man who decided disputes in a village and one should not doubt its integrity.

“If a decision is pronounced against you then do not hurl abuses that the elderly has become part of a design.”

Addressing the critics, the chief justice said: “You should be proud of judiciary for which we struggled to make independent. Every judge is independent. All the judges have been working independently without any pressure. We made all decisions on merit.” “This judiciary is under no pressure,” he said, adding: “Even those who do not bother to read verdicts start passing remarks.” He said the people, who made comments on court decisions, should first read them.

He said some people sitting on television channels claimed that the apex court has been divided. “I assure you that there is no such thing.” “They do not read any verdict rather they give judgments. We are often stunned hearing them on TV giving decisions on sensitive matters.”

The chief justice said those against whom a judgment has been issued enjoyed the right to criticise the reason behind the verdict, but he questioned the insinuations that the judiciary is part of a plan or under pressure. He said the judgments on the petitions against Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen were announced on Friday because he had a passion to issue verdicts within a month. “If someone had been able to dictate [the judges] the Hudaibya judgment would not have turned out the way it did,” he pointed out. He said he was not aware that the Hudaibiya case is also due to be pronounced on Friday, adding that every judge was independent and made his own decisions.

The chief justice said he believed in the supremacy of Parliament and had written a dissenting note in the 18th Amendment case, in which he had thrown light on the importance of democracy for the state. He remarked that all organs of the state were integrated and linked with democracy. “If there is no democracy then we will have no Constitution. And Almighty Allah forbid, if there is no Constitution, the country could be harmed.” “We have taken oath to protect the Constitution. It is our responsibility to protect the Constitution,” he added.

The chief justice said one of the major feature of the Constitution was democracy, adding that he could not leave his son Najam Saqib with the shame that “we failed to protect democracy in the country”.

He came hard on the non-professional attitude of the lawyers who move frivolous litigations and create hurdles in dispensation of justice. The chief justice pointed out that the judges are informed through anonymous calls, in which they are advised to stay away from the cases as some lawyers have taken extra fee from the client in the name of judge for getting a favourable decision whereas the judge has no knowledge of such an underhand deal. “But no action is taken against them,” he added.

Chief Justice Saqib cited lack of the court benches as a problem and said five judges are hearing one case and three judges are hearing cases separately on a daily basis for the last one year. That leaves only only four or five judges whom he is sending to Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar, he explained.

He said the issue of presidential election of Al Gore and George Bush was brought to the US Supreme Court, adding that the case was won by Bush while Al Gore criticised the judgment. On this, the US Supreme Court judge, WH Wright, said political dirt should have not been brought to the laundry of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Saqib recalled.

He remarked that on having free time after the process of cleaning the political dirt, he would be able to hear the cases of underprivileged litigants – including Mai Bhagan, Ghulam Rasool, Din Muhammad and Rehmatullah – who considered their three-marla house a haveli.

The chief justice added that he heard the case of a woman fighting for her inheritance because her husband had left a huge property. “This woman was a widow of a Sunni person and the nephews of the person declared that he was Shia. In Shia law, the widow is not given the share from agriculture land.” He said when the case reached the Supreme Court he provided justice to her but she had became blind by that time. The woman was living with his brother who was also become blind, he said, adding that the court helped the two after 17 or 20 years.

He condemned the incident of insulting and misbehaving with a female judge, saying, “Who are these [people] who abuse the judges and take law into their hands. Survival of judges has become difficult.” On the problems faced by the justice system, the chief justice cited delay as the biggest vice. He said flu and fever are common grounds of adjournments.

It was for the first time that the chief justice addressed the audience aggressively and with openness. “I hardly sleep three to four hours a day and sometimes do walk with Justice Ijazul Ahsan,” he added. However, he said they had not been able to render quality justice to the under-privileged segments of the society, asking the participants to make a promise of “give their best” with “utmost honesty, dedication and integrity” and all these issues would be resolved.

He acknowledged the delay in the judicial process, saying “some not very competent judges are responsible for the delay multiplication of litigation and expensive litigation in cases”. An efficient training programme is necessary for judges, he noted.

The chief justice emphasised the need for imparting training to the judges of district judiciary to minimise the delay in disposal of cases. Addressing Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, he said the judicial officers must be provided training so that they could know exact prepositions of law. He also asked the bars to hold workshops and form committees and submit recommendations to curtail the cost and delay in disposal of cases.

Speaking with reference to the procedure laid down for appointments to the superior judiciary, he dispelled the impression of drawbacks in it. He said elevation and confirmation of the high court judges is done on the basis of their integrity, knowledge of law and conduct. The bar is also consulted in the process, but no appointment is made to please someone, he added. The chief justice said, “It is my responsibility to improve the institution. However, I want utmost honesty and honesty of purpose from both lawyers and judges.” “We have to work hard to ensure the provision of justice to the poor and oppressed segments of society,” he said, adding a wrong decision of the judges creates a bad impact. He advised the lawyers to play an active role in providing justice to the victims and take care of the poor. “We should cooperate with people and provide proper guideline regarding their cases.”

PBC Vice-Chairman Ahsan Bhoon and Supreme Court Bar Association President Pir Kaleem Khurshid also addressed the seminar which was attended by a large number of lawyers.