Islamabad Bar lawyers should be appointed IHC judges: NIRC chief

ISLAMABAD: National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) Chairman Justice (retd) Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui has said that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) is not a federal court, and judges here should be appointed from among the lawyers of the Islamabad Bar.

Justice Siddiqui said that after the incident that happened after addressing the Rawalpindi Bar, most people said that “you were supposed to become the chief justice. What did you do?”

He said he believes that no matter how much power one gains or how much wealth one accumulates by becoming an “accomplice”, if in the end one regrets that they have made this mistake, “it’s better for a person to sacrifice his life than to be an accomplice”.

Addressing lawyers at the IHC Bar, he also said that five out of six benches of the NIRC have been connected with video link, so lawyers now make arguments over videoconferencing from their respective cities.

He pointed out that the millions of rupees that would be saved in the form of TA/DA (travel allowances & daily allowances) are being spent on employees. He remarked that only the Peshawar bench is not connected with video link yet. “We took the place where the current building of the IHC is situated in 2012,” he said. Regarding the design of the building, he added: “We held a competition in which hundreds of architects participated.”

He said they were going with a theme that there would be a bright and airy environment, “but in practice this couldn’t happen. This contract was changed, behind which there’s also a story that I don’t want to tell here”.

He also said that the building was to be completed in November 2015, and that when the contract was changed, it was mentioned that the project would be delayed by five years.The concept of pillars for the entrance of the building was taken from Masjid Nabawi, he pointed out. “Here, only justice will be done, and everyone will be equal.”

Justice Siddiqui said that after the Supreme Court’s decision in his favour, he came to the high court building to meet the judges, and also complained to them about the building.

He said that when he entered the Bar, a Geo News reporter asked him: “Will there be a hard-hitting speech today too? I said there will be no hard-hitting speech, but there will definitely be a speech.”

He also said that his role as a lawyer and a judge is mentioned, but there is also his role as a litigant. He added that he is indebted to the Bar for standing by him in difficult times.

IHC Bar President Wajid Gillani said Justice Siddiqui always spoke about upholding the constitution and the law, adding that he is the pillar of the IHC.

“Since the day he became the president, I’ve been thinking about when to invite Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui to the Bar. Not only Islamabad but also the lawyers of the entire country love him.”

Gillani said that when Justice Siddiqui was a judge of the high court, everyone knew him. “Whenever we went abroad to any country, people used to ask if there was only one judge in the IHC.”

He said Justice Siddiqui also refused the post of the high court chief justice for the supremacy of the law. “This is the difference between Yazidiat and Hussainiat. The ideology of Hussainiat is a thought.”

IHC Bar Secretary Manzoor Ahmed Jajja said that according to Justice Siddiqui, it was him who had selected the place for the new building of the high court.

“He also played an important role in the construction of the new building. Phase one of the facility centre adjacent to the IHC will be ready in August, for the inauguration of which Justice Shaukat Siddiqui will be invited.”

Islamabad District Bar President Naeem Ali Gujjar also paid tribute to Justice Siddiqui, and invited him to the District Bar. Later, Justice Siddiqui was presented with a commemorative shield by the Bar.