Farhatullah calls for setting up constitutional court

ISLAMABAD: PPP Human Rights Cell President ex-Senator Farhatullah Babar has said that a historic opportunity had presented itself to do away with a chaotic approach to the constitution by setting up federal constitutional court.

He urged streamlining procedure for the appointment of judges to ensure judiciary of the judges, for the judges and by the judges.

“Since the days of Chaudhry Iftikhar, it has been observed that the constitution was not what was written in it but what the judges said it was, as in the case of Article 63-A and now the need for a separate constitutional court has become even more urgent,” he said.

Speaking at a dialogue with civil society at SZBIST here Sunday, Farhatullah Babar said that the appointment of judges has been dangerously centralised as chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry alone appointed over a hundred and sacked another hundred judges of superior courts all by himself. “It is not to question the competence and integrity of judges thus selected by one individual,” he said. He said it is a far more serious issue namely stuffing the superior courts with like-minded judges and turning it into a monolithic unit like a military battalion.

He said that Parliament through 18th Amendment sought to rationalise judges’ appointment but the judiciary under Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry stood in the way and discreetly threatened to undo the constitutional amendment. “Unfortunately Parliament and the political parties had cold feet and back tracked,” he said.

He said that it was an irony that the judiciary allowed the generals and itself to re-write and superimpose the constitution but denied the people to exercise this right through their elected representatives in Parliament. Farhatullah Babar said a constitutional court is needed to address constitutional issues alone so as to reduce burden of cases of ordinary litigants and inject an element of provincial balance in addressing constitutional issues. “If the political power has been rationalised among provinces by setting up the Senate why the judicial power should also not be balanced among provinces by providing equal number of judges from all provinces in it,” he asked. He said that nearly four lac cases were pending in the courts of which over 60 thousand were in the SC because the constructional cases have to be accorded priority and they also take time. He said as the common litigants suffer incalculably, the trust in the state and judiciary also erodes.

Rejecting the claim that the constitutional court will be against the basic structure of the state, President PPP’s Human Rights Cell Farhatullah Babar said that the basic structure of the state rested on the separation of powers, the independence of judiciary and the fundamental rights of the citizens and asked in what way the constitutional court could undermine the basic structure or independence of judiciary.

The seminar was also addressed by ex-Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Barrister Masood Kausar, CEO Bhutto Foundation Asif Khan and PPP General Secretary HR Cell Samana Malaika Raza. The addresses were followed by interactive session with lawyers, academia, media, former civil servants, political activists and other members of the civil society.