Daily Times

LAHORE: In a strongly-worded resolution, the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) on Thursday urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to convene a full-court meeting to discuss appropriate ways for improvement of judicial performance and to restore public confidence in the judicial organ of the state.

Referring to the recent Larkana incident, the resolution maintained that ‘by entering the courtroom with dozens of news-cameramen in tow, disrupting ongoing judicial proceedings and publicly humiliating judicial officers by tossing around their mobile phones, the CJP [Mian Saqib Nisar] undermined not only the dignity of the judge concerned but [also of] his own office.”

The resolution applauded the CJP for starting inspections of lower courts but urged him to do so by observing proceedings, and prescribing disciplinary measures, if needed, without attracting media attention. It said that the behaviour of apex judges with judicial officers in the lower courts must not resemble that of ‘an SHO disciplining an errant sepoy or a wadera with his haris’. The CJP was urged to focus on ‘structural, procedural and human resource management issues’ in the lower judiciary if he intended to improve judicial performance.

Further, the resolution opposed the top court’s practice of taking up cases pending hearings before high courts. It said that by publicly holding high and district courts in low esteem, the apex court was not setting a great example for the litigants who stood to lose confidence in the country’s judicial system. Lastly, the resolution also took up the top court’s recent instruction to lower courts to not grant ex-parte injunctions in cases pertaining to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Taking exception to the CJP’s assurance to the Chinese authorities that the country’s judiciary supported the mega project, the KBA resolution maintained that the judiciary should neither support nor oppose such foreign investment programmes. It said the courts job was to decide cases before them in accordance with the law.

Published in Daily Times, June 29^th 2018.