Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Calling Justice AR Cornelius a symbol of integrity, speakers at a seminar held to commemorate him urged law practitioners to study, learn and follow the example of the former chief justice.

They were speaking at a seminar titled Justice AR Cornelius – Services & Contributions to the Justice System of Pakistan which was co-organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) following his 27th anniversary, which was observed recently.

The seminar was addressed by Law & Justice Minister Barrister Muhammad Farogh Naseem as the chief guest, whereas other important speakers present on the occasion included Leader of Opposition Raja Zafarul Haq, Advocate Hamid Khan, Supreme Court Bar Association President Amanullah Kanrani, CII Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz, IPS Director General (DG) Khalid Rahman, Riphah International University (RIU) Vice Chancellor Dr Anis Ahmad, CII Secretary Dr Ikramul Haq and IPS Senior Research Associate Professor Dr Shahzad Iqbal Sham.

Raja Zafarul Haq said that he holds high regard for the people who rose to distinguished ranks on the back of their integrity and hard-work and Justice AR Cornelius was certainly one of them. He said that the former chief justice was an original thinker, who despite being a catholic Christian himself, studied Islam in depth and advocated to follow its guidelines in the country’s constitution.

Speaking of the late chief justice’s legacy, Dr Qibla Ayaz said that AR Cornelius was a true patriot and had a deep penchant towards exploration and studies. He said that the former chief justice was a staunch supporter of shaping the countries’ systems and constitutions as per the teachings of Islam.

RIU VC Dr Anis pointed out that Justice Cornelius referred to himself as a Constitutional Muslim who in fact was highly committed to the ideology of Pakistan and strived to follow the laws of Shariah that he found very much in line with the natural laws.

Talking about various shortcomings and inconsistencies that were present in the justice system of Pakistan, Hamid Khan was of the opinion that many of the prevailing judicial issues could be dealt by adopting the values practiced by the chief justice, such as uprightness and giving respect to everyone without any discrimination, as well as by trying to reform the state’s judicial systems as per his insightful recommendations.

The advocate said that Justice Cornelius always favoured the rights of people and many provisions and interpretations that we find in the laws today were made by him.

IPS DG Rahman finally concluded the session stressing on the importance of remembering the services and contributions of personalities like Justice Cornelius and following their examples with a view to bring improvement to our individual as well societal lives.

Published in Daily Times, December 30^th 2018.