Chief Justice of Pakistan, Lahore High Court Should Resign
Mahir Sheikh Nisar
The author is a lawyer based in New York, member of the American Bar Association and Pakistan Sub-committee, and founding member of the Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP).
A Remider to Pakistani nation: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the Real PCO Judge! Pakistanis should ask his resignation now!
Pakistan’s judiciary is engaging in improper judicial conduct such as pure conflicts of interests, media statements stating judicial outcomes and opinions, meetings with foreign dignitaries and politicians, and purporting undeniable biases and lack of impartiality. Where are the lawyers who should note the improper judicial conduct? How exactly have these judges remained as judges given that they are practicing law from their chambers, rather than acting as neutral arbiters?
Pakistan’s legal movement coupled with the political might of Nawaz Sharif has raised serious questions as the intent of the judiciary under the current Chief Justice. Many of us young leaders and students fought for the restoration of the judiciary hoping that it was synonymous with an independent judiciary. However, as history has shown us, the current judiciary is no different than its predecessors. Pakistan, being a common law country, inheriting its legal tradition from the British, has failed to inherit the tenets of a proper judicial system: the requirements of due process and the neutrality of the judges trying the cases.
The statements by Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Khawaja Sharif are absolutely deplorable. Making statements regarding a defendant in a current case and what the outcome should be is absolutely contrary to the judicial responsibility required of judges. The current Chief Justice of Pakistan’s decision involving the former General are also against the tenets of proper judicial conduct because it was case of a pure conflict of interest and bias. Interestingly, the Chief Justice of Pakistan did not partake in the recent Nawaz Sharif case, yet the decision was politically charged by a popular movement without giving credence to the evidence and laws in place. No person is above the law, yet we are allowing a former Prime Minister to engage in acts of a criminal nature without being subjected to the Constitution.
The current Chief Justice of Pakistan should resign due to his inability to maintain the independence and impartiality of Pakistan’s judiciary. Due to the fact that the movement in which he was restored was a political movement, all his supporters and enemies who were expected to be tried in Supreme Court require the Chief Justice to recuse himself regularly. A Judge who must regularly recuse himself from the Court lacks the basic necessities of remaining a Judge on the bench in maintaining the independence of the judiciary.
The people of Pakistan and its lawyers must awaken to these ill practices within the judiciary before the common man loses complete confidence in the legal system. The judiciary is dangerously becoming an alter ego to popular opinion and political stances rather than maintaining its impartiality. Pakistan’s people, lawyers, and students must promote the procedural due process and neutrality of judges that it fought for upon the removal of the Chief Justice back in 2007. Today again, the people stand for the removal of one individual for the integrity of the institution and its purpose.
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