Judicial equality: ‘Follow the Punjab when it comes to salaries of judges’

Chief Justice of Pakistan meets with SHC and lower court staff to resolve salary issues.

KARACHI: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked the Sindh government on Thursday to follow in the footsteps of the Punjab, where judges are getting a salary three times higher than those of their counterparts in Sindh.

“The judiciary is one of the most important organs of the state and it cannot be neglected,” he said, adding that he hoped the provincial government would be eager to solve the problem.

On the issue of higher salaries for the Sindh High Court (SHC) staff, the chief justice said that he could not comment as an SHC bench has reserved judgment in the case and the matter is ‘sub-judice’ (under trial).

Justice Chaudhry was addressing the subordinate judiciary at the SHC lawns. He was flanked by Justice Ghulam Rabbani of the Supreme Court and SHC Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany. All judges at the principal seats of the SHC, including the senior-most judge, Justice Mushir Alam, were also present. Referring to the rising number of court cases, the CJP said that the people of Pakistan have a renewed trust in the judiciary and this trust is still growing.

The judiciary has emerged as the most important pillar of the state and is performing to the satisfaction of both litigants and the bars, he said.

The CJP praised the judges of the subordinate courts but cautioned that there was room for “further improvement”.

“The improvement in the judiciary has been brought about by myself, brother judges of the apex court and the SHC too. We expect the same from you [lower court judges],” he said.

He advised the sessions, senior civil, civil and other judicial officers to keep an eye on ministerial and paralegal staff. If anything goes wrong at that level, it is the judicial official’s responsibility, he told them.

The job of judges is a sacred one and they are supposed to dispense justice without any discrimination.

Although at times there is a lack of cooperation with members of the bar, judges shall not be discouraged or disheartened and they will continue to provide justice to all, Justice Chaudhry said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2010.