ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Rasheed A Rizvi said on Thursday that it was unfair to say that the superior judiciary had taken dictation from any institute.
He said that it was unfair to criticise the judiciary.
Talking to reporters outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday, he said that the present government had itself strengthened the hands of the ‘establishment’ and acted on its directions. “However, now it is saying that injustice has been done to it by the judiciary,” he said.
“Those who themselves act on the dictation of ‘establishment’ are now complaining of injustice. On whose direction was former president Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf allowed to leave the country?” he asked.
“In the treason case against the former president, the SC had repeatedly asked the attorney general of Pakistan to take instructions from the government about placing Musharraf’s name on the Exit Control List. However, the government had kept silent,” he said.
To a question about calls to repeal Article 62 of the Constitution, he said that the Parliament had supreme authority to legislate on all issues.
“However, when opposition parties had wanted to repeal Article 62, the present government had opposed them. Now the question arises on whose directions did the incumbent government oppose the matter?” Rizvi asked.
“Politicians themselves sought the establishment’s support by acting on their directions,” he said. He said it was the right of lawyers to criticise the judgments of the court, but only in a positive and constructive manner.
“Positive, fair and constructive criticism can bring improvement in the judicial system. However, it is not fair to say that the SC gives its verdicts on dictations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the SCBA Executive Committee expressed grave concern over the ongoing rift between the Lahore High Court (LHC) judges and the LHC Bar Association Multan bench president.
The committee stated that the bench and bar were integral part of each other. “We do not support the incident that occurred inside the LHC Multan Bench, but at the same time, we feel that it could have been handled in a better way,” the committee said. The committee said that the dispute should be settled amicably by forming a committee comprising LHC judges and the SCBA, the Pakistan Bar Council and the Punjab Bar Council representatives.
The committee also called upon the LHC chief justice to withdraw the contempt notice and arrest warrants for Sher Zaman Qureshi.
Published in Daily Times, August 5th 2017.
