A judge susceptible to compromise is failed person: LHC CJ

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah on Saturday said a judge susceptible to compromise was a failure as a person and did not deserve to be part of the justice system.

The chief justice said there should be a civil services-like competitive exam for judges to find competent persons, adding that there was a need to have judges who were all-rounder.

He was addressing a ceremony held in connection with the announcement of results for the exam conducted for the posts of civil judges.

The chief justice said a judge should deliver justice without any fear and compromise, and must never think about passing judgments against law and bypassing principles.

He said organising a competitive exam for judges wasn’t an easy job but the examination committee deserved credit for achieving the goal. However, there was not a single blind person among the 6,500 candidates and the number of women was also not encouraging, the chief justice said, adding that there should be a 50 per cent quota for women in the future.

The chief justice said they had devised an examination mechanism according to the Supreme Court’s decision, which would have further strengthened in the coming days.

Speaking on the occasion, Justice Yawar Muhammad Yawar Ali said it was pleasing to see that the civil judges were being recruited according to merit. Transparent appointment of judges was very important for both judiciary and society, he added.

Earlier, Justice Shahid Waheed – the examination committee chairman – explained the process to ensure transparent exams and said the services of 50 session judges were hired under the central marking system to check the papers.