KARACHI:
I believe that Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan, created under Article 209 of the Constitution, is an independent body where decisions are made either by consensus or majority. All Supreme Court and High Courts judges are custodians of the Constitution, with powers to interpret it and provide justice to all citizens and uphold rule of law. All discretionary powers must be exercised within the confines of the Constitution. The recent news report about the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan addressing a Full Court Reference on the beginning of the new judicial year raises eyebrows. If the Judicial Commission of Pakistan differed with the nominated judges for appointment to Supreme Court, the matter should have rested there, until such time a new decision is made in accordance with rules, norms and the Constitution. It is the Law and Constitution that must triumph.
This country has suffered a lot for not adopting Quaid’s vision that Pakistan must be a modern democratic welfare state, with a constitution as supreme law and all institutions of the state, namely Executive, Judiciary and Parliament, working within the confines of their defined jurisdiction elaborated in the Constitution. The Judiciary must give judgments based solely on the Constitution with no resort to Doctrine of Necessity. Former Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, Justice Marshall, had once cited Latin legal phrase ‘Fiat justitiia ruat caelum stated’ meaning ‘Let Justice Be Done, Though the Heavens Fall’. If only Justice Munir had followed this dictum in Maulvi Tamizuddin Case and the same had been adopted by others, Pakistan would have been saved humiliations it has suffered, citizens basic constitutional rights assured and our economic and geographical sovereignty secured.
Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2022.
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