ISLAMABAD: Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan on Monday doffed off his robes as the judge of the Supreme Court, but with regrets that chaos all around, corruption in every department of life and insecurity in every hut and house are predominant features in the country today.

Speaking at a full-court reference hosted in his honour for reaching superannuation, the outgoing judge said “the answers to these ills lie in our hearts and not in the books of philosophy or jurisprudence”.

Also read: The judge who stirred storm in a teacup

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar who headed the reference observed that Pakistan was built by brave hearts and it was the bravery of hearts indeed that would take this nation to newer horizons. “And Justice Khan is one of such brave hearts for whom we celebrate his contributions by bidding farewell and that he will be remembered for his words, his wisdom and his zeal.”

“It is always in the toughest times that the fabric of our being is truly tested and as a judge of the superior courts, Justice Khan even in the most trying times made it his priority to deliver justice,” the chief justice said.

CJP says outgoing judge ‘will be remembered for his words, his wisdom and his zeal’

Justice Khan in his parting speech bemoaned that “every now and then we find ourselves in an arena, where our personal interest is pitched against the national interest”.

“When the dictates of our self-seeking ego is that none is dearer and grab whatever you can, the dictate of our conscience is that national interest is preferable to personal interest,” he said.

“But we, more often than not, prefer our personal interest,” Justice Khan said adding “the moment, we prefer our personal interest to the national interest, we disseminate the seeds of discord and dissension. This happens everywhere in every department of life,” Justice Khan regretted.

“The strangest part of the story is that we suffer because of our own doings, yet we attribute our plight to the heaven or those who are at the helm of affairs and we do not want to realise that all this is on account of our own acts of omission and commission,” he said.

“We stridently condemn others for doing certain things what we do ourselves with impunity. These, if analysed psychologically, are the characteristics of a psychopath who is always driven by his personal motives and whose goals are wholly satisfactory to himself. The Holy Quran cherishes the memories of those, who prefer others to themselves, though poverty be their own lot,” Justice Khan said.

“We condemn the culture of corruption,” Justice Khan regretted, adding “when we find ourselves in the sticky mud, we use it as a rope to climb out of it. Not only that, we use it as a ladder to attain positions, we do not deserve otherwise. All these ills and ailments can be treated if we prefer national interest to our personal interest and learn not to like for others, what we do not like for ourselves,” Justice Khan said.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2018