The legal fraternity on Thursday expressed its concern over the presence of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and other senior judges at the recently held Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore, saying that they had given the judiciary a “bad impression”.
Former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Hamid Khan did not agree with the CJP claim about an “independent” judiciary.
“The impression about judiciary among the common people is not positive. It needs to be replaced with a good one,” he claimed at a news conference arranged by the Lahore High Court Bar Association.
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The event was held at the Lahore High Court and senior lawyers, including Hamid, were present on the occasion.
The legal fraternity’s focus was to intimate bar associations to avoid becoming tools of political parties and favouring their groups.
The bar associations should focus on problems which the legal fraternity was facing and discuss the judicial system.
LHCBA President Maqsood Buttar and Hamid demanded that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) should proceed against those judges, who favoured specific political wings and personalities.
Buttar said the SCBA was planning to arrange a convention of lawyers’ community on what sort of role could be rendered to improve the judicial system as well as the mechanism of judges’ appointments and their conduct.
“Bar associations should not work for political parties. It gives the legal fraternity a bad impression,” he added.
“Judges should avoid intervening in bar politics as it was done during former LHC chief Justice Qasim Khan’s tenure.
Hamid said the judiciary should dispel the impression that it did not work under the influence of the security establishment or any other institution.
“I don’t agree with the claim of the CJP that the judiciary is independent and works without any pressure,” he added.
He maintained that the presence of the CJP and other judges at the Asma Jahangir conference had given the judiciary a bad name.
“They should avoid attending such events and focus on the judicial side.”
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He added that the SJC should proceed against those judges, who used to deliver verdicts by simply looking at the faces of the lawyers.
“This is tantamount to depriving the rights of other lawyers.”
Hamid was asked whether or not the legal fraternity had prepared a list to proceed against those lawyers who had orders handed down by showing their faces.
He replied that action should be taken against such lawyers at the bar level.
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