- Judicial institutions always follow rule of law and not rule of individual judges, says CJP
- Nobody dares interfere with my work, insists top judge
LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed Saturday came down hard over critics’s claims that the institution of the judiciary was attracting influence from external forces, asserting forcefully he never allowed anyone to dictate to his office.
In a fiery speech delivered at an event held in Lahore in memory of the late rights activist Asma Jahangir, the otherwise composed judge appeared at one point to lose his patience at the charge levelled by senior lawyer and former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Ali Ahmad Kurd who spoke before him.
Responding to Kurd during his speech, Justice Ahmed said he “absolutely did not agree” with his assessment. He also rubbished the claim that “our courts are not free” and that the judges were “working under someone’s pressure or [that] of the institutions.”
“I have always upheld the law and the Constitution in my verdicts. My verdicts are as per my conscience”.
“I do not accept any dictation nor have I ever taken dictation from anyone. I work per the law and so do the other judges of the Supreme Court.”
The judge further said the judicial institutions always follow the rule of law and not the rule of individual judges. “Nobody dares interfere with my work,” he added.
He iterated the judges of high courts were working diligently to dispense justice. Justice Ahmed asked the audience to “enlighten” him if he ever accepted any pressure from any quarter.
The chief justice also offered Kurd to read the court judgements to get a clear picture of the environment at the higher courts.
“My judges write judgements every day […] see [for yourself] how our court is working with independence and following the law, and implementing the Constitution.”
He said it was wrong to give “such generalised statements without providing any evidence or quoting any [specific] instance”.
Justice Ahmed said the courts were free to decide whatever they wanted to do and did so routinely. “Tell me which case was decided on whose dictation till today.”
