I am Manzur Qadir. I am not known to most of you who read what I pen today. I belong to an era when the legal profession was widely acknowledged as noble. A time when judges were kind, patient and forgiving. Members of this noble profession believed in administration of justice via courts of law, and not newspapers, television programs, or press conferences. It was uncommon for practitioners in the legal profession, and adjudicators, elevated from the ranks of the same, to voice their opinions in electronic or print media regarding matters sub judice. I pen this with some hesitation. I am not completely apprised of the ethics one must adhere to when attempting to voice their thoughts in this fashion. But when electronic or print media is the language that our adjudicators and jurists seem to have learned, I am forced to speak the same. Hence, I offer my apologies in anticipation of any boundaries I may transcend in this articulation of mine.
Unfortunately, my legacy has met an unexpectedly early demise. My lament, today, does not address the legal community of Pakistan at large. It is directed to a specific few known to me in olden days, the few I entrusted with my legacy.
My Dear Mr Aamer Raza, how I miss your vigour, and unwavering commitment to your principles and legal ethics. I hear you resigned with the respectable Mr. Khwaja Habibullah, Mr KM Samdhani, and Mr Aftab Farrukh when General Zia offered to you a judicial office under the PCO. You were loyal to our profession and an example for all who joined the profession. What happened after that, Mr Raza? Why did you decide to maintain your distance from legal practice, the bar, and all young lawyers practicing in the courts? You were aware that young lawyers, today, are the adjudicators of tomorrow.
The fabric of democracy in Pakistan is still weak due to certain actions by the military. In such conditions, would it be wise for the distributors of justice to make public statements — not in a court of law, but before the press — in matters that are yet to be argued and decided?
No man could have groomed them in the necessary art of patience as you could have. After all, must a judge of the superior courts not portray patience and encouragement for young lawyers, the legs of whom tremble, when they appear before him? Correct me if I am wrong, but does article II of the Code of Conduct for Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts (hereinafter the ‘Code of Conduct’) framed by the Supreme Judicial Council under the 1962 Constitution, a constitution I helped formulate, not require our judges to ‘preserve calmness’ while adjudicating? If it does, why do I not hear that Judges of our superior courts remarked “Learned counsel, let us adjourn so you may prepare the answers we require” in the stead of “Counsel! You are unprepared! no adjournment shall be granted!”?
Dearest Mr Sair Ali Khan, in my perplexity, I am reminded of your politeness. However, my principles require that I be brutally honest. I see hostility in judicial attitudes, today; I see judges taking aggressive tones with those who bow down to them, and those who either seek justice or wish to be defended in the event of frivolous litigation. Again, I am forced to refer to Article II of the Code of Conduct which requires a judge to ‘be strong without being rough, polite without being weak, awe inspires in his warnings, for the formation of correct conclusions in all matters coming before him’. Kindness always encourages those appearing before a judge. All I ask is: Why did you not pass your stellar characteristics on to those who replaced you on the bench? Why are parties to cases, and their representatives being threatened in courts of law of consequences not warranted by law under the garb of judicial orders? Why do persons, subject to the jurisdiction of our courts, step out of court premises, stripped of their dignity, with fear in their eyes?
My beloved Mr Ahmad Waheed Khan, I am told that you are a legend in my former world of legal practice. However, not once have I come across newspaper articles quoting you; not once have I witnessed you appearing before the press and making statements that project that you will aid in the administration of justice and correction of the institutions of Pakistan. You are known to have trained numerous judges and adjudicators in their early years as legal practitioners.
Why is it, I ask, that they are not adhering to Article V of the Code of Conduct which declares explicitly that ‘Functioning as he does in full view of the public, a judge gets thereby all the publicity that is good for him. He should not seek more’? Must a Judge not, completely, avoid all public confrontations? In my time, I recall, that judges would completely alienate themselves from the world in the greater interests of justice and the nobility of the legal profession. To make statements about matters that are sub-judice is to lead the masses to walk down a particular road before a decision is rendered, is it not? The fabric of democracy in Pakistan is still weak due to certain endeavours of the military. In such conditions, where the masses are in a fragile state, would it be wise for the distributors of justice to make public statements — not in a court of law, but before the press — in matters that are yet to be argued and decided? Is this not shaping public opinion before the law has spoken? This in not dissimilar to sentencing a person, before (s) he is convicted!
An attempt to reform our country and its institutions is what Pakistan needs most. However, for a judge, such reforms should manifest from inside of a court room, with patience, strength, kindness, and eloquence. It is the judicial dicta that should speak; not the judge him/her-self.
In conclusion, I can only make a suggestion — make efforts to undo that which has been done by Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry; This profession was your calling; now, it calls on each of you. Fulfil your obligations towards all those who now enter the profession and teach them the olden ways, as my generation made good on its promise of teaching you. I am Manzur Qadir, and I ask you — reincarnate my legacy.
The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore and is, currently, enrolled in the LLM Programme at the Cornell Law School
Published in Daily Times, February 4th 2018.