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Pakistan’s judicial system has been corrupted, says SM Zafar
Staff Report
LAHORE: The country’s judicial system has been corrupted and judges’ stature in people’s eyes has reached its lowest point, said Senate Member SM Zafar during a seminar on ‘seeking justice: a distant dream’ on Monday.
Zafar said the judicial system was in a pathetic state, which accounted for people not getting justice from courts. Nobody respected judges, he said and added that it was only the calm before the storm.
He said that said that everybody involved with the country’s judicial system was responsible for the current situation. He said that courts were not doing their duty to provide people with justice.
The Focus Pakistan arranged the seminar at a local hotel, which was attended by Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah, Justice (r) Mian Allah Nawaz and Justice (r) Mrs Nasira Javed Iqbal.
“Enough is enough,” he said and added that had the judiciary played its role positively, the current situation could have been avoided. He said that people should report corrupt judges to higher authorities. Another factor affecting the judicial system was that people went to courts only to win a case and not to get justice. He said if people were confident that judges would decide a case on merit, they would not complain.
Provision of justice was the most important thing for an establishing country, but Pakistan’s condition in this regard was alarming, he said and added that people were of the view that judges should be approached directly to win a case. Zafar said that improvement in the judiciary system would ultimately strengthen the country and added that the country could progress only if people were honest and admitted their mistakes.
He said that Pakistan’s expatriates criticised its judicial system and said that they feared returning to the country because the weak system would not be able to protect their rights. Regarding Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah’s address in which he defended judges, Zafar said that he disagreed with Shah. He hoped that a time would come soon when people would stop respecting judges completely and added that it would be the beginning of the judicial system’s revival in Pakistan.
He said that he had joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) to restore democracy in the country. Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah however said that the judiciary’s performance had been good even during martial laws. He claimed the judiciary had always been neutral in its role to provide justice and said that the system had helped stabilise the society.
The reason for people’s criticism was that they expected more from it, he said, adding that he had served the Supreme Court for 25 years and knew the job’s responsibilities. He said that judges were trying cases as best as they could and if the decision was not in their favour, they should not blame the judges.
Justice (r) Mian Allah Nawaz said that courts and people together made up a judicial system and action should be taken against judges only if evidence against them was found. He praised the media’s role and quoted Hamid Nizami as an example for journalists.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...10-2005_pg7_30
Staff Report
LAHORE: The country’s judicial system has been corrupted and judges’ stature in people’s eyes has reached its lowest point, said Senate Member SM Zafar during a seminar on ‘seeking justice: a distant dream’ on Monday.
Zafar said the judicial system was in a pathetic state, which accounted for people not getting justice from courts. Nobody respected judges, he said and added that it was only the calm before the storm.
He said that said that everybody involved with the country’s judicial system was responsible for the current situation. He said that courts were not doing their duty to provide people with justice.
The Focus Pakistan arranged the seminar at a local hotel, which was attended by Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah, Justice (r) Mian Allah Nawaz and Justice (r) Mrs Nasira Javed Iqbal.
“Enough is enough,” he said and added that had the judiciary played its role positively, the current situation could have been avoided. He said that people should report corrupt judges to higher authorities. Another factor affecting the judicial system was that people went to courts only to win a case and not to get justice. He said if people were confident that judges would decide a case on merit, they would not complain.
Provision of justice was the most important thing for an establishing country, but Pakistan’s condition in this regard was alarming, he said and added that people were of the view that judges should be approached directly to win a case. Zafar said that improvement in the judiciary system would ultimately strengthen the country and added that the country could progress only if people were honest and admitted their mistakes.
He said that Pakistan’s expatriates criticised its judicial system and said that they feared returning to the country because the weak system would not be able to protect their rights. Regarding Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah’s address in which he defended judges, Zafar said that he disagreed with Shah. He hoped that a time would come soon when people would stop respecting judges completely and added that it would be the beginning of the judicial system’s revival in Pakistan.
He said that he had joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) to restore democracy in the country. Justice (r) Nasim Hassan Shah however said that the judiciary’s performance had been good even during martial laws. He claimed the judiciary had always been neutral in its role to provide justice and said that the system had helped stabilise the society.
The reason for people’s criticism was that they expected more from it, he said, adding that he had served the Supreme Court for 25 years and knew the job’s responsibilities. He said that judges were trying cases as best as they could and if the decision was not in their favour, they should not blame the judges.
Justice (r) Mian Allah Nawaz said that courts and people together made up a judicial system and action should be taken against judges only if evidence against them was found. He praised the media’s role and quoted Hamid Nizami as an example for journalists.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...10-2005_pg7_30
If the judiciary is corrupt or compromised, then the nation can say good bye to freedom.
There is no better an example than in the famous last words - Give me Liberty or Give me Death!
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