Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: At a rare one-on-one meeting at the Supreme Court on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi assured Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar of ‘full support’ on public interest initiatives undertaken by the top judge as well as revamp of the judicial system of the country.

The chief justice, on his part, assured the prime minister that the judiciary will continue to perform its constitutional duties “independently, fairly, transparently, without fear or favour and strictly in accordance with law”, according to a press statement issued by the Supreme Court after the meeting. “All steps will be taken to materialise the vision of the Honourable Chief Justice with respect to free education, public health, improvements in government hospitals and provision of quality and affordable health services, revamping the medical education, especially in private medical colleges, provision of clean drinking water, better sanitation and protection of environment, etc,” the statement quoted Prime Minister Abbasi as having told the chief justice. The meeting, which was arranged on the request of the prime minister received through the attorney general for Pakistan, was held in a cordial atmosphere at the chambers of the chief justice, the statement read.

The CJP received the prime minister, who reached the court premises at around 7 pm without his usual prime ministerial protocol, at the judges’ gate.

The prime minister showed keen interest in providing all possible assistance in revamping the judicial system of Pakistan as visualised by the chief justice. He assured the chief justice that the government will provide all resources to the judiciary in order to enable it to provide speedy and inexpensive justice in addition to facilitating easy access to justice for the common people, the statement added.

The prime minister highlighted the difficulties faced by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the tax department on account of pendency of litigations involving the revenue department in different courts. The chief justice assured the prime minister that he will look into the matter and that such cases will be fast-tracked, the statement read. The prime minister also informed the chief justice that the Council of Common Interest (CCI) had approved the national water policy which will help in fruition of the latter’s efforts in that direction.

Talking to a private TV channel, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said although the meeting was not an unusual one, the timing of the meeting was ‘not suitable’. He said that cases against ministers in Abbasi’s cabinet and the Sharif family were currently underway in higher courts as well as the accountability courts.”There had been similar meetings between the PM and CJP during our tenure as well. The timing of the meeting, however, is unusual and will fuel speculation and doubts [in the prevailing climate]. There are many cases underway against the government right now,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, March 28^th 2018.