KARACHI, Dec 22: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said on Saturday that judiciary was trying to improve its efficiency but noted that the government had not been as helpful as it should have been in strengthening the judiciary.

He said that in addition to launching a national judicial policy to remove weaknesses marring the output of the justice system, the judiciary took strict actions to minimise corruption. However, he added, there was a limit to what it could do within its own resources and capacity.

The chief justice was speaking at a gathering of the representatives of Sindh Bar Council and district bar associations of Karachi and other parts of the province and a roll signing ceremony for the newly-enrolled advocates from Sindh and Balochistan.

“We have sent a formal reference to the government asking for increasing number of judicial officers in the country, but have not received a positive response even after many months,” he said.

In an indirect reference to a recent order of the apex court about fresh delimitation of constituencies in Karachi, he said it was up to other institutions to implement the judgments handed down to improve the worsening law and order situation in the city.

He said nobody could deny the fact that holding free and fair elections through updated and error-free electoral rolls was the only way forward for the nation.

Dispelling an impression about the interference of superior judiciary in government affairs, the chief justice said the Supreme Court had never tried to assume the role of executive and legislature.

He said the judiciary respected the integrity and independence of other institutions and always played its role within the parameters of its constitutional domain.

The success and efficacy of a democratic system depended on independence of judiciary which could not be ensured until all state institutions worked within constitutional framework, he said.

However, the judiciary being the custodian of constitution had been specifically equipped with the power of judicial review to check an arbitrary exercise of power by any person or institution, he added.

It was the constitutional mandate of judiciary, the chief justice said, to annul any act of parliament or a state functionary that transgressed the constitutional limits.

“The role of judiciary in the democratic governance of Pakistan is more of a check against constitutional transgression than that of just an adjudicator in settling bilateral quarrels and disputes,” he said.