LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad on Saturday strongly denied having made any judicial decision under the pressure of any institution.

“Neither I have taken dictation from anyone nor anyone has ever dared to dictate me,” he said, rejecting an ass­­ertion of former president of Supreme Court Bar Ass­o­c­iation (SCBA) Ali Ahmad Kurd that the judiciary was under pressure from the po­­w­ers that be in the country.

CJP Gulzar was chief gu­est at the inaugural session of two-day Asma Jahan­gir Conference co-hosted by the SCBA.

He said it was very inappropriate to make allegations against the entire judiciary merely through a general statement.

“At least I have never taken pressure from any institution. I have always decided cases as per my understanding of law and the Constitution,” he said and reiterated that no one had ever interfered in his judicial work.

Kurd says Pakistan’s judiciary has the lowest ranking in the world due to its functioning

Justice Ahmad said he believed that all his brother judges had the same characteristics.

He asked Mr Kurd to visit the courts and observe their working as the judges delivered justice to people on a daily basis.

“Come and see with what independence our courts are working,” he said while extending the invitation to the former president of the SCBA. The chief justice said the judgements being passed by the courts on a daily basis were being published in books.

He reiterated that the judiciary could not be targeted through a generalised statement without quoting any specific instance.

“The decisions of the courts are seen as an evolutionary process. The judiciary in every country of the world has gone through the same evolutionary process. Some decisions of the courts are good and some are bad,” he explained.

However, he said, people termed the decisions of the courts good or bad as per their own opinions.

He said everyone was free to have an opinion and this right was respected in the democratic system. “This is the beauty of our judicial and democratic system,” he added.

Chief Justice Ahmad said: “Our courts are free to decide cases and conduct accountability of everyone involved in any case before them.”

“Just disclose if there is any decision passed on the dictation of anyone. This assertion is not true. Do not create confusion and misunderstanding among the people. Do not try to shake the trust of the people in the institutions,” he said in the obvious context of Mr Kurd’s remarks.

The chief justice said there was rule of law, not rule of men, in the country.

He said the courts would continue to promote supremacy of the constitution and advocacy of democracy in the country.

“We will not accept any undemocratic set-up. We will leave as we did in the past,” he concluded.

Earlier, Mr Kurd said the late Asma Jahangir was a voice of the poor of the country. He said she had always spoken truth before the powerful without any fear.

He expressed reservations over the title of the conference’s inaugural session, “The role of judiciary in protecting human rights and strengthening democracy”. “What judiciary are you talking about?” he asked the organisers.

He regretted that the judiciary of Pakistan was on the lowest in the world ranking due to its functioning.

He claimed that there was a clear division within the judiciary.

Mr Kurd said one army general was superior to the 220 million citizens of the country.

He alleged that the general was the reason behind the deplorable ranking of Pakistan’s judiciary.

The fiery speech of Mr Kurd caused uneasiness among the organisers of the conference as the participants, particularly students, kept shouting slogans.

SCBA President Ahsan Bhoon had to intervene and ask the participants to maintain decorum of the event.

Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah acknowledged the criticism of Mr Kurd on the judiciary.

He said: “It is very important for us to know what the bar and the people think about us.”

Responding to Mr Kurd, he said: “No judge who is independent can ever make an excuse that he can be pressurised or influenced. Any such excuse is a violation of the oath that judges take.”

Justice Minallah said the judiciary could not refuse to accept its mistakes.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court said failure to abide by the Constitution had divided Pakistan into two countries and caused untold misery.

He said: “We need to reflect upon, admit and accept our mistakes, set aside our arrogance and delusions, seek forgiveness and promise never to violate the Constitution again. Only then there is the possibility of being forgiven by the people.”

He paid tribute to Asma Jahangir calling her an iron lady of Pakistan.

In his speech, SCBA president Bhoon said dictators or representatives of imperial forces had used religion as a tool to perpetuate their rule.

In Pakistan, he said, a dictator namely Ziaul Haq, used the same practice and inserted Article 62 (1)(F) in the Constitution, which required that parliamentarians should be “Sadiq and Ameen”.

He said to be Sadiq and Ameen was a virtue of prophets whereas all humans were fallible whether they be judges, parliamentarians or representatives of any other segment of society.

He said being in conflict with the basic spirit of Islam, the provisions of Article 162 (1)(f) inserted in the constitution were liable to be struck down.

Mr Bhoon said power used by the Supreme Court under Article 184 (3) did not provide right of appeal to the aggrieved parties. He termed this a violation of Article 10 A of the Constitution and demanded amendment to the rules of the Supreme Court to grant right of appeal to the aggrieved party.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2021