Daily Times

Sir: The outgoing Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court has pointed to many lacunae that exist in our judicial system, where procedures, rules, regulations and practices conceived in the 19th century dominate and the pace of work has failed to adapt itself to the crying needs of the 21st century. Months elapse before an authentic copy of a judgment is given to the victims of injustice. The magnitude and complexity of problems have risen along with an ever-expanding population growth. The mindset, however, of those entrusted with powers to decide the fate of people seeking justice has failed to synchronise with the demands of the time and the propensity of injustices of an archaic tribal feudal society, unwilling to hold themselves accountable before the laws of natural justice and rights of individuals given to them under the constitution.

When justice, established under the law, is denied to men and women based on technicalities advocated by highly paid branded lawyers, credibility of the judicial system and expectations from it, raised by the movement of restoration of the judiciary, suffer a blow.

We live in the 21st century, yet the master-slave concept survives in a country that calls itself democratic and Islamic. For an ordinary citizen seeking justice with limited resources, it is shocking to find out that a lesser settlement offered to him before a judge of a high court does not have the sanctity of a judicial order and if its implementation is not done, then the court does not consider it to be a contempt of court.

Instead of giving justice based on fundamental rights and judgments of the Supreme Court, even senior citizens of this country are denied emoluments due to them by state-owned corporations, abusing their powers of discretion, which continue to be denied to them, though they have been expressly promised to pay all outstanding dues. On paper, these senior citizens can seek justice by once again going to the lower courts, where by the time justice may be given to them, they would most probably be six feet underground.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan has himself passed judgements ordering that those laid off on mandatory retirement schemes on the whims of a management in violation of ‘last in first out’ principle must be paid all that is due to them, as if they were in service till their age of retirement, but some courts fail to follow suit.

MALIK T ALI

Lahore