"All and sundry to follow rule of law and there is no immunity for anyone come what may," the chief justice said, was the one and only one baseline of these landmark decisions.
Addressing the roll signing ceremony of Supreme Court lawyers in Islamabad on Saturday, he said it was high time that this sea of change in constitutional and political history is accepted by all without any ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’.
Welcoming the lawyers enrolling in the Supreme Court, he said it was a significant acknowledgement of their life-long commitment to the profession of law. He said the profession of law is undoubtedly a noble one because as a practitioner of law, lawyers have to behave like an epitome of rule of law and incarnation of supremacy of Constitution in the country.
"On the one hand, you have to assist the highest Court of the land in ensuring complete justice is meted out to the litigants in all manners of cases and on the other hand, you have to build and enforce the public opinion about ensuring rule of law in the country".
The Chief Justice said the country has witnessed unprecedented changes in the wake of lawyers' movement resulting into a healthy debate about the need to change our old habits where many expediencies held sway over rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution.
Justice Chaudhry remarked that this was a new Pakistan where old structures are crumbling and past demons of extra constitutional deviations are being exterminated one by one. "We have learned from history that no country can realise the dream of progress and prosperity for its people without following the route of rule of law and supremacy of Constitution," he commented.
COMMENTS (18)
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@Parvez Amin: My point exactly! He should stop acting like an angel. Second, according to the law, there are consequences of all actions. And, if you are at the top of the judiciary, there are no excuses. One "No" and that too only for saving your own skin, cannot wash your sins.
It is said: Pride comes before the fall.
Man is fallible but can ask for forgiveness. Man is also not all bad - each has some good. If the good is enough to be CJ on merit, we should forgive the part that is bad. Is there one among us who never made a mistake? Let the CJ continue - so far we have noot had better.
Justice in Pakistan is inaccessible to ordinary citizens.its expensive,too slow and complicated. poor peope can't even think of hiring a lawyer in any dispute.lower courts are corrupt. people pay to local Bahi and get better justice.Bahi justice is accessible,rapid and simple on spot.
Let the law rule the country. don't worry about liberal fascist here...
He has failed to implement justice instead he has been misleading the nation
Judges should be independent and impartial . Equally important : they should not be
uneducated or stupid . One day , inshaullah , we will have judges who fulfil all these
conditions .
Gone are the days when judgments were made on the basis of laws, now judgments are made on the basis of how popular will they be among masses and media. Justice is dead, popular-ism is live and mocking us in our face.
Wanna be rock star - loves the notoriety - won't tolerate any criticism - hasn't figured out that the Judiciary is suppose to be unbiased/unpolitical - and spends much of his time trying to act like an executive branch of the govt and zero time sorting out the enormous corruption within the judiciary branch.
@confused: I'm don't know why Faryal Talpur was barred from electioneering. She doesn't hold any government position. On the other hand, the crown prince of Lahore held a government position, few days before the election, he resigns, and Mr. CJ happily OKays everything. And ultimately boasts and self-praises that he is doing a great job.
This man loves to pat himself in the back every day! He in love with himself
I hope the current selective justice process can be turned into accountability for all once the current CJ retires.
His pro-Raiwind, anti-Karachi and pro-PMLN anti-PPP behavior is far too obvious. Be it Punjab by-elections weapon display or Wahida Shah slap, be it the difference of verdict between the meddling in by-elections of Faryal Talpur & Hamza Shahbaz, be it delimitation of constituencies in Karachi without any census & no delimitation in Punjab, etc.
I hope for the time remaining he can give better judgement. If you suddenly give a decision on CNG prices at least take appropriate measures to insure all stakeholders are taken on board so that the "awaam" doesn't have to suffer with continuous CNG strikes, low pressure & price fluctuation.
No immunity but for CJ and his son only..
Only one word for this men "love"
The judgments have been populist in nature. The judge needs to understand the the Supreme Court is not a political entity and popular decisions are not necessarily based on the idea of justice. And as far as old systems crumbling are concerned, the handling of the case of Arsalan Iftikhar has definitely put a dent in the court's credibility.