THIS refers to Zahid Hussain’s article ‘Civil servants in the dock’ (March 11) wherein he rightly pointed out that judicial activism encroaches upon the authority of other state institutions and creates serious imbalance.

Whether it is the populist rulings of chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to impose judicial absolutism or esoteric plan of his junior colleague Saqib Nisar to build a dam, both made a mockery of Pakistan all over the world.

The impetuous decisions of the later caused other government agencies to scramble and issued guidelines to overseas Pakistanis to send their contributions for dam funds without understanding the limitations of foreign exchange regimes in different countries.

He was presumptuous and his general disdain for other occupations was evident when he infamously said that he would have been a bank clerk had he attained a simple BA degree.

In order to improve performance of the bureaucracy, a high level board comprising representative from different walks of life with a proven track record should be formed. This board should have the power to appraise performance of bureaucrats, and should also redress public complaints.

Faisal Salahuddin
Colombo, Sri Lanka

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2020