Bahawalpur visit: Bar-bench cooperation critical: LHC CJ

All pending cases should be disposed of on merit.

BAHAWALPUR:

Lahore High Court chief justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said on Tuesday that the struggle for independence of judiciary in the country was accompanied by a struggle for restoration of democracy.

He said today courts were working freely and without pressure from anyone because of the struggle of democratic forces against the dictatorship of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

Justice Saeed was speaking at a function hosted in his honour at the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore High court bar association. He said good relationships between bar associations and judges were critical to the efficient working of courts. He said the two institutions, bar and bench, could not function without each other’s cooperation. Addressing recent law graduates, Justice Saeed said when they take leadership positions in the bar and the bench in coming days they should work for making justice delivery speedy to facilitate people who had been contesting cases for several years. He said in disposing of pending cases judges should ensure that the pressure of deadlines doesn’t end up compromising their verdicts.  LHCBA Bahawalpur president Muhammad Sharif Bhatti earlier briefed the chief justice about the problems faced by lawyers in Bahawalpur.
He also presented a memento Justice Saeed. Senior judges of LHC Bahawalpur bench and civil courts attended the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2011.