Aitzaz, Asma criticise meddling in price issues

Express reservation against verdicts on CNG, sugar prices and frequent suo motu notices.

LAHORE: Two former presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) have objected to the Supreme Court’s (SC) involvement in issues such as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and sugar prices.

Speaking to media persons at the SC’s Lahore registry on Wednesday, both Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Aitzaz Ahsan and Asma Jahangir criticised the conduct of the country’s superior judiciary.

Aitzaz asserted that while the judiciary was independent, SC judges were not absolute.

Referring to the apex court’s recent order regarding CNG prices, he maintained consumers received no benefits from the move. He added that the decision regarding sugar prices did not benefit the country’s economy either.

Jahangir, meanwhile, asked who would render justice if the judiciary kept its focus on gas and sugar prices. She said the SC was not fulfilling the ‘requisites of justice’ and ‘flatterers’ were being appointed as judges in the country’s superior judiciary. Jahangir demanded a strict policy for the appointment of judges based on merit.

Aitzaz also expressed reservations against suo motu notices saying defendants lost their right to appeal in such cases.

He hailed other SC verdicts, however. Talking about the apex court’s ruling on Asghar Khan’s petition, he said the verdict had “closed the doors for dictatorship in the country.”

He cautioned that while the decision was a good omen, fair investigation in the case was still necessary. Aitzaz added that the court had passed several incorrect verdicts as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2012.