Judiciary won’t accept unconstitutional move; says Chief Justice

In a clear warning to the government, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that the judiciary will not tolerate any unconstitutional steps taken by the executive or legislature.

Addressing the Balochistan High Court (BHC) Association, the chief justice said that only rule acceptable was that of law and the Constitution.

He observed, “Judiciary has been entrusted with the power to adjudge the validity of the legislative and executive actions on the touchstone of the Constitution”.

In his view, the Supreme Court of Pakistan was aware of its responsibilities and shall always administer justice and safeguard the fundamental rights of the people. He said that they have taken oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the country and to dispense justice without fear or favor.

Chief Justice Chaudhry asserted that the supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law demand that all organs of the State should function within their prescribed and well settled parameters provided by the Constitution and Law.

“The Constitution provides elaborate provisions for the system of administration of justice, including its establishment, powers and functions”, he added.

The judiciary was greatly concerned after its restoration about the improvement in the system of administration of justice, he added saying that the National Judicial Policy was formulated in consultation with all the stakeholders of the system.

He explained the key features of the new policy including eradication of corruption, reduction of backlog of case and independency of judiciary.

He noted, “Improvements have been made continuously in this policy considering the ground realities and feedback from the stakeholders. The policy was not imposed, rather it was implemented as a unanimous decision of all concerned”.

In his view, it was one of the reasons of its success that every person engaged in the system and found reflected of his own thoughts in the document, adding that implementation of this policy has led to a significant improvement in the rate of the disposal of cases at the levels of the judiciary.

Commenting on the Balochistan issue, he said that there was no one safe in the province. He, however, said that the court summoned the top security official to produce missing persons.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=28772

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jul 13 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.