ISLAMABAD Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that judiciary is duty-bound to uphold the rule of law and protect the masses. Addressing the full court reference organised here on Tuesday in the honour of Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmad on his retirement, the CJ said the function of judiciary was to interpret the Constitution and ensure its implementation so that the poor and the weak could get benefit. Attorney General of Pakistan, Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq, President Supreme Court Bar Association, Qazi Muhammad Anwar, and Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council Abu al-Anham also addressed the full court reference. The Chief Justice said the judiciary should be efficient and function appropriately to achieve the goal of speedy justice. He stressed for making the governance compliant to the Constitution. He said the function of judiciary was to interpret the Constitution and ensure its implementation. The Chief Justice said the judiciary was bound to protect the rights of the citizens and to ensure equality among them. The CJ said, Article 37 (d) of the Constitution, which is a principle of policy, calls upon the state to ensure inexpensive and expeditious justice. Access to justice is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. The judiciary in Pakistan has promoted and encouraged public interest litigation. The concept of aggrieved person or party has been modified to a great extent making a shift from person to cause. The Supreme Court Bar Association President Qazi Anwar said that the appointment of judges should not have political influence, and added that it was also incumbent upon the judiciary to stop distortion of the Constitution. He said that the impression being created that the hearing of the petition about Judicial Commission would create conflict between the Judiciary and the Parliament. He opined that the Parliament was not supreme and only the Constitution was supreme and all state institution were compliant to it. Sharing his views and life experiences on this occasion, Justice Ch Ijaz Ahmad said, I salute my wife for respectfully looking after my very old (and illiterate) father, single-handedly training my children and supporting me solidly in my decision not to join Dogar Court. But for the support of the family, my resolve might have been affected. And while I depart I share a few incidents with you. On 2nd November 2007 I was judge of the apex court but on 3rd November 2007 the police guard at my gate told me just not to get out of my house. The present Chief Justice went to Army House on 9th March 2007 but came out without Supreme Courts flag. Then as a result of lawyers movement, duly supported by media and civil society, the same dictator was dishonoured. Why I narrated these two incidents is to bring home a lesson. Justice Ijaz recited the verses from the Holy Quran and read poetry of Bullay Shah, Qateel Shifaee and Allama Muhammad Iqbal in his address.