The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president on Wednesday termed the memo issue political and something that “should not have been dragged into court”.
“By seeking affidavits from Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, [the Supreme Court has given] an impression that the two are entirely independent institutions,” said SCBA President Yasin Azad.
He said that every institution’s perimeters are well defined in the constitution and encroachment into each other’s jurisdiction will lead to disaster.
Accountability of the elected government is a right of the people and not the institutions, said Azad. He added that had the federation provided a chance of hearing in the memo case, the courts may not have been criticized today.
Criticizing the member of judicial commission tasked to probe the memogate scandal, Azad said, “The chief justices of high courts are busy in investigations while litigants are running from pillar to post for justice.”
He said after March 16, 2009 no judge was elevated in the Supreme Court on merit, adding that all four high courts lack experienced judges.
Azad said with only 14 judges working in Sindh High Court (SHC) and 34 in Lahore High Court (LHC), the judges are overburdened. “It is beyond my comprehension that since the judicial commission headed by the chief justice is empowered for the appointments of judges, why the matter of appointments of judges in high courts is being delayed,” said Azad.
“Our judiciary is not completely independent; an independent chief justice does not mean that the entire judiciary is independent,” he added.
Lahore High Court Bar Association former president Advocate Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi said the past judiciary’s action weakened the country; however, after restoration of present judiciary the process of self accountability was started. Naqvi added that it is the responsibility of lawyers, civil society and media to protect the future of independence of judiciary.
Advocate Athar Minallah, the former spokesperson of Chief Justice, said that the judicial history of Pakistan is callous but “the journey of change continued”.
He said few independent minded judges do not mean that the whole institution is independent; however, he expressed hope that the past mistakes will not be repeated. He added, “When the society demands independence, the court will become independent automatically.”
Senior Advocate Fakhruddin G Ebrahim said for 25 years the country survived without a constitution, “but after having it we did not protect it”. He said a change is coming in the society, and it will not tolerate abrogation of the constitution and imposition of marshal laws.
Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Latif Afridi said independent judiciary is only possible when other institutions of the country are also made functional. The judiciary cannot be independent without the parliament performing its duty, he added.
Chairman Jeevay Pakistan Jeevay Maqami-Hakumat Danyal Aziz said though the Supreme Court after restoration has announced many verdicts but none of the verdict has been implemented, “which is a big question mark on the independence of the judiciary”.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2012.
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