No uniformity in judicial commissions: SC

ISLAMABAD The Supreme Court Wednesday observed that there was no uniformity in the judicial commissions of other countries as they were formed according to their needs and circumstances. Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday, one of the judges of the 17-member larger bench hearing various petitions against the 18th Amendment, asked, Have we derived some lesson from our own history? He said that in Pakistan assemblies were dissolved, martial laws were imposed and the courts validated them and the people also approved them. He added that the court and the Parliament refused to validate the November 3, 2007 illegal step of a dictator General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf. He remarked that Parliament and the courts were alive now. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that Rabbani-led Committee had also mentioned in the report that democracy was restored in the country due to judiciary and lawyers struggle. He said that the court in its July 31 judgement referred all those ordinances promulgated by a dictator back to the Parliament. He said the court wanted to strengthen institutions in the country. Shahid Hamid, counsel representing Government of Punjab, said, We all have to move together. Justice Ramday said, We should see what the ground realities are and what we want to change and achieve. Justice Saqib Nisar commented, If we say this then we should devise new mode and change the 150-year-old system of judges appointment to get some good outcome. On the issue of judicial activism, Justice Ramday said when peoples daughters were kidnapped by the high-ups and the police supported the criminals, then the judicial activism was not the publicity but something else. Shahid Hamid reading Justice (Retd) Dorab Patels judgement said judicial activism was to take suo moto on the issue reported in the media and the other facet of it was to take action against any type of violation that raised the court respect in the eyes of the public. Justice Ramday stated that judicial activism seemed to be a laughing stock. The Chief Justice said even the Deputy chairman of the Senate sitting at the helm of affairs was writing to the court for action. On the issue of representation of women and minorities in the courts, Shahid Hamid said the there would be a time when women and ethnicity seats be allocated in the courts. Justice Ramday objected to the Dorab Patels suggestion. Justice Khawaja said it was for the diversity. Shahid Hamid informed the court that restoration of the judges and then their appointment procedure was the first priority of Pakistan Muslim League-N. Justice Raja Fayyaz asked him, Are you giving so much reference of the PML-N because the CoD was signed by various political parties? Shahid Hamid told that judicial commissions were established in seventeen Muslim and many Commonwealth countries. All these countries say that judiciary is independent but there is a question mark on the issue of ground realities, he added. The Chief Justice said that emphasis was on the independence of judiciary but whether or not it existed was another thing. Justice Zahir Jamali asked, Dont you think the CoD was for personal gains of some individuals. Shahid said it was not the case because the parties wanted to establish a new system of judges appointment in the country. Justice Tariq Pervaiz asked there were many other things - providing education and health facilities to everyone and eliminating corruption from society - written in the manifestos of the parties and the CoD. Did the two major political parties strive to achieve those objectives as well? he asked. Shahid Hamid said that Chairman Public Accounts Committee had taken up issues of financial bungling in the government departments. The PML-N has blocked the passage of Accountability Law and did not allow the members to approve it in the Parliament.