ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down the petition of Watan Party seeking accountability of judges and army generals through the parliament.
The Chief Justice, Mian Saqib Nisar, heard the appeal of the Watan Party in his chamber and sustained the objections raised by the SC Registrar’s Office.
Barrister Zafarullah, chairman of the Watan Party, requested the chief justice that when the accountability of people and the parliament was held, then the judges and the generals after their retirement should also be held accountable.
However, the chief justice after hearing his arguments dismissed his appeal against the registrar’s objections.
The registrar office had stated that the petition was based on mala fide intents, adding that it cannot be entertained under Order XVII, Rule 5 of the Supreme Court Rules 1980.
In the petition, Watan Party prayed to the court that; oaths taken by judges of the supreme and the high courts may include the words “Sadiq” and “Ameen”; “Sadiq” and “Ameen” may be made part of the code of conduct of the judges; the SC may not take over the jurisdiction of the parliament or overlap jurisdiction, which challenges stability of democracy; all accountability of higher judiciary be conducted by a parliamentary committee since the “SC itself has failed to conduct its own accountability”; and that the SC and the army generals may surrender their accountability to public through the parliament.
Last year in December, Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, while hearing the NAB appeals regarding the acquittal of accuse, urged the need for accountability of all, including judges and generals, like all other citizens.
Justice Dost Muhammad said that he was personally in favour of trial of judges and generals like other citizens.
He opined that those trials must be conducted under the accountability law like the trials of common people.