A full court reference was held in honour of outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed at the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The reference was attended by CJP-designate Justice Umar Ata Bandial, all the judges of the Supreme Court, Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan, Supreme Court Bar Association President Mohammad Ahsan Bhoon and a large number of lawyers.
Addressing the reference on the eve of his retirement, CJP Gulzar Ahmed said that since his appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court in November 2011, he performed his functions fearlessly and to the best of his ability.
He said since December 2019, when he was appointed as chief justice of the Supreme Court, he did his level best in discharging of his functions.
He said there has always been difference in institution and disposal of cases and invariably the institution has always been on the higher side.
However, he said during his tenure as CJP, against the institution of 38,680 cases, the court decided 27,426 cases, adding that he, as the CJP, heard and decided 4,392 cases.
He said the court has navigated from difficult times, but the current scenario shows that it is still not over. He said the principle of separation of powers is the bedrock of our constitutional structure.
It provides the system of checks and balances to ensure that each organ of state stays within the limits of its power or jurisdiction. He said there must be harmony between the three state organs, and they are expected to work for achieving the goals set out in the constitution.
The most important attributes of judiciary and judges are independence, fearlessness and integrity. Similar is the onerous and arduous task to be followed by the members of the bar.
He said the consultation with the bar has been a continuous process and in this, issues of lawyers were addressed and the matters relating to the court working were amicably resolved.
He said during his tenure as the CJP, three meetings of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) were held, in which all members participated and major decisions were taken.
He said measures were adopted to deal with the crisis of Covid-19 pandemic and a crisis management committee was constituted for monitoring implementation of the measures.
He said the process of appointments in district judiciary was expedited. He said history was made with the appointment of first female justice in the Supreme Court.
According to a news outlet, Ahsan Bhoon, in his address, said Justice Ahmed had violated the principle of seniority in appointments to the superior judiciary. He said due to this “violation of merit” in appointments, the judiciary was facing a serious crisis.
“If the decisions of the top court and the standards of their implementation are synchronised, then no one will have a chance to point fingers at the court,” he added.
He said most of the appointments of judges in the Supreme Court of late were made on the basis of personal likes and dislikes.
AGP Khalid Javed Khan said it was necessary to create an ideal procedure for the appointment of judges, “but the current system has yielded good results”.
He said Justice Ayesha Malik’s recent appointment as the first female Supreme Court judge was on merit, adding that “transparency in the appointment of judges cannot be compromised.”
