Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa raised a question over the appointment process of the judges in the higher judiciary, saying that when a test could be conducted for a civil judge post and for an additional district and sessions judge then why not for others.
“Why is the test not conducted for the judges of the superior judiciary?” asked Justice Isa while addressing a ceremony held under the aegis of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) on Saturday.
His statement came a day after Lahore High Court’s (LHC’s) Justice Ayesha A. Malik was elevated to the SC as the first female judge in the judicial history of the country.
Justice Isa walked through the roads from GOR-I to the ceremony at the LHCBA. Surprisingly, there was no police officer or security for him along his way from the GOR-I to the destination.
“I came here walking through the roads from GOR-I, saw many barriers and there was water accumulated at some points,” said the top court judge, adding that he loved to walk and often preferred to do so on his way to the Supreme Court.
“The sirens of the vehicles of important personalities cause noise pollution,” said the judge of the top court, lamenting the VIP culture in the country.
“There are many airports in the world where speaker-announcement is avoided, so the people will not be disturbed,” he said, justifying his stance against VIP vehicles’ sirens. He was of the view that the police should be there for public security instead of accompanying him.
“A tragedy took place a few days ago in Lahore. May God protect all of us,” he regretted and prayed.
He urged the lawyers to use public transport and spare their cars for a day, so that they could know the problems of the public.
“You will come to know many things if you come through the public transport. We should not be afraid of the public. These sirens will not do anything with us,” he said, adding that one segment of the society is preferred over the other. He was of the view that creating hurdles in the way of pedestrians was a sin.
Talking about independence of the judiciary at the occasion, Justice Isa said that the judges of the high courts were free and independent and “any judge” should not interfere in the affairs of the high courts.
The public, he said, had two basic complaints; one was that when their cases would be decided and the second was what directions would the decisions take.
He regretted that laws were amended but these were not registered properly, wondering as to why the laws were always made in English.
“I wonder as to why these laws are not translated into Urdu as they are made in English,” he remarked.
He recalled that when he was doing practice, finding an appropriate law used to take much time.
Justice Isa said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah formed Muslim League; he had a vision, and he did not fight any war in this regard. He said that the Quaid made a different country through his dialogue.
Talking about terrorism, the judge said that a terrorist believed in guns and they were the weakest segment of any society, because they did not have any arguments.
“A death threat was run against me. A video was also run on a YouTube channel. My wife felt hurt and she went to a police station to lodge an FIR but it was not registered for five days,” he criticized the system.
“The FIR was registered under electronic crime laws later,” he added.
The SC judge said that he practiced law for over 27 years and had been serving the country as a judge for the last 12 years. But his career as a lawyer was more than his career as a judge. He stated that the Constitution of Pakistan guaranteed democracy and social justice.
Appreciating the lawyers for arranging a ceremony and inviting him, Justice Isa said that he was made a star, but he was not a star, adding that he always tried to dispense justice under the law.
He urged the lawyers to learn the use of technology as many did not feel comfortable with its use. Perhaps, they feared that the number of cases could come down due to online glitches in the system. He also asked them to focus on writing as well.
“The law schools should focus on the writing skills of the lawyers,” said Justice Isa, pointing out that it was not focused on in many law institutions.
“Writing is a good thing, but it also costs you. Because what I am speaking here is written and it could possibly be used against me someday,” he added.
Earlier, LHCBA President Maqsood Buttar addressed the ceremony and appreciated Justice Isa, saying that he stood by the truth and took a stance against the powerful.
“Justice Qazi is the last hope for the lawyers, and they will stand by him,” said Buttar, vowing to fully support him.
Buttar said that they were happy that for the first time a female judge was elevated to the SC but unfortunately the principle of seniority was ignored. He said the lawyers had serious concerns about it.
In appointment of judges with the high courts, he said, women should also be given a chance. He said that it was really astonishing for him that there were very short cause-lists of some judges and others had had very long ones, due to which they faced trouble.
“We need to impose an emergency in our judicial system,” said Buttar, coming down hard upon the prevailing judicial system of the country.
Buttar also said that it was a matter of surprise for him that some cases were fixed as they were filed, and many were still pending there.
“Some powers do not want to see the judicial system becoming strong,” said the bar leader, pointing out that the judicial system was weakened so that no action could be taken against “them”.
A large number of lawyers were present on the occasion.
