Supremacy of law: Judiciary bears no personal grudges, says PHC chief justice

Maintains corruption will be filtered with successive democratic governments.

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan on Saturday stressed the judiciary bore no personal grudges and wants democracy to flourish in the country.

Addressing judges during a ceremony held to award certificates at the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy (KPJA) of which he is also the chairman, Justice Khan said once rule of law is established, the country will come out of the countless challenges it is currently confronted with.

“Some are annoyed with what we are trying to do to end corruption and establish rule of law, but let me tell them: We are judges and we have no personal grudges against anyone,” said the provincial chief justice who was flanked by KPJA Vice Chairman Justice Miftahuddin and Director General KPJA Hayat Ali Shah.



Justice Khan said people started looking up to the judiciary after state institutions failed to perform their obligations, adding that the superior judiciary was compelled to intervene and play a leading role in upholding rule of law.

He was of the view that corrupt elements will be filtered automatically after a few democratic governments complete their tenure. “I tell you Pakistan is the wealthiest South Asian country, but the resources we have are exploited.”

He also congratulated the graduating judges and said “the process of learning has no age and no boundaries”.

Justice Khan announced that training for media personnel, specifically those reporting court stories, will start from February 21.

Earlier, certificates were distributed among participants. The academy started five months ago and a total of 125 judicial officers have graduated from it so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2013.