| Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed rejects criticism against judiciary | Says no one has courage to interfere in his work | We will leave but will not accept undemocratic step | Citizens’ rights are basis of democratic society: LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti 

Judicial organ can’t afford to bury its head in sand and ignore its mistakes: Athar

There is a clear and observable division within judiciary: Ali Ahmed Kurd

LAHORE   -  Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed Saturday straightforwardly rejected criticism against the judiciary and made it clear that the courts in the country are free to conduct their business. He said that there is no inference in the judiciary and no one can dictate the judges. 

“My courts are providing justice to people. The courts are working independently,” Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said this while addressing Asma Jahangir Conference 2021 here at a local hotel. “(There is) no pressure of any institution on the judiciary. The courts’ decisions are evolutionary process. Somewhere they could be wrong and somewhere they could be right,” he said.

The CJP also said that if there was a wrong step taken then it could be corrected. He said the people have the right the challenge the decision of the court at the appropriate forums.

“The court does what it wants to do. It does not do what anyone else wants it to. No one has ever dared to stop us,” the CJP said. “Do not create misunderstanding among people; do not create chaos and do not make people lose trust in the institutions. Tell me on whose dictation any case decided,” he asked.

Referring to senior lawyer Ali Ahmad Kurd, the CJP said that he can come to the courts to see how independently courts are working. “I have not taken pressure of any institution or listened to any institution. No one tells me or guides me on how to write my verdict. I have never made any decision that I did so on someone else’s saying, nor has anyone had the courage to say anything to me.”

Justice Gulzar said the courts were free to decide whatever they wanted to do and did so routinely. “Tell me which case was decided on whose dictation till today,” he said as he advised Kurd to “not tell wrong things to people, create discord and lift the people’s trust from the institutions.”

The CJP said that no one ever interfered in his work nor he was pressurised and guided to pronounce a specific verdict.

CJP Gulzar Ahmed said that people should not be misguided and the impression that courts were not independent was wrong as he had always given verdicts in accordance with the Constitution and law.

He added that he neither took dictation from anyone nor any institution pressurised him to pass certain verdicts. Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said that the impression that the courts were not independent and were operating under the pressure of institutions was not correct. “We are bound by oath. I have never taken pressure from any institution and never listened to anyone,” the CJP added.

The CJP expressed his anger over former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Ali Ahmed Kurd’s remarks and urged him to read the judgments of the courts. “We work and will continue to work without pressure. There is rule of law in Pakistan, not of human beings,” he added. He further said that no one has dared to interfere in his work, adding that he makes the verdict on his cases according to his understanding and conscience.

He said that the Constitution, law and democracy in the country would always be supported by the judiciary, adding that any undemocratic setup would not be acceptable. “We will not undemocratic step. We will leave (resign from our posts) which we have done before as well,” he said.

The CJP further said that all judges of the Supreme Court, high courts and lower courts were working hard to provide justice to people. He noted that judges of the Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Sindh and Balochistan High Courts are all diligently administering justice. “The lower judiciary also hears cases on a daily basis and gives decisions in accordance with the law,” he said.

Earlier, Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti said that judiciary was the guardian of citizens’ rights. He said that judiciary had played a significant role in society always. The Constitution gives importance to the fundamental rights of the people, he added. He said that citizens’ rights were basis of democratic society.

CJ Islamabad High Court Athar Minallah, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, senior lawmakers, politicians, journalists and members of civil society and others attended the two-day conference.

While addressing the conference, Ali Ahmed Kurd directed a barrage of criticism towards the judiciary.

“One general is dominating a country of 220 million people. This same general has sent the judiciary down to number 126 [in rankings],” he said, possibly referring to World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2021, on which Pakistan ranks 126th in the category of fundamental rights.

Kurd, in his speech, said that there was a “clear and observable division” within the judiciary, adding that the country’s “intellectual class was finished” and “because there is no intellectual class, people of small stature are sitting at the top.”

Meanwhile, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah acknowledged some of Kurd’s criticism during his speech prior to CJP’s. Justice Minallah expressed his gratitude towards Kurd because “it is very important for us to know what the bar and what the people think about us.”

“Let me assure Mr Ali Ahmad Kurd that no judge who is independent can ever make an excuse that he can be pressurised or influenced. Any such excuse ... I’m afraid ... is a violation of the oath,” he said.

The IHC chief justice said judgements in cases such as the Mohtarma Nusrat Bhutto case and the Zafar Ali Shah case were part of history and could not be erased. “These judgements were responsible for the making and enabling of those that have been referred to by Mr Ali Ahmad Kurd,” Justice Minallah noted.

Justice Minallah said the judicial organ could not afford to “bury its head in the sand and ignore its mistakes.”