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Thursday March 28, 2024

Hope military, judiciary to respect democracy

By Our Correspondent
April 08, 2018

KARACHI: The All Pakistan Bar Members Conference has passed a unanimous resolution asking all the national institutions to adhere to their constitutionally defined roles. The resolution was presented by president Karachi Bar Association (KBA), Haider Imam Rizvi during the conference held under the auspicies of the Karachi Bar on Saturday.

Welcoming the army chief's denial about issuing any statement against the 18th Amendment, Haider Imam Rizvi said they expect that in the future also the armed force and the judiciary would respect public consensus over democracy'. He also praised the role of judiciary in protecting the basic rights and said the All Pakistan Bar Members Conference is of the opinion that in these cases, the judges should maintain their impartiality in the strictest possible terms and refrain from passing remarks and adopting behaviour which raises doubts about their impartiality.

He said the tendency to highlight the leaders of the institutions, should be discouraged and attention should be focussed to the prestige and honour of the institutions’ and not any person. The KBA president also appreciated the rejection of a petition against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, as we believe it was brought up by the undemocratic forces to pressurise and warn an independent minded judge. They, however criticised the role of member Lahore Bar Court Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association Ali Zafar who by pleading the case of undemocratic forces, has cased frustration and distress. Haider Imam Rizvi also said they believe in the freedom of the right to expression of the retiring judges of the Supreme Court and the trend of sending them on retirement without the farewell reference, should be discouraged.

Haider also condemned the airstrike that killed scores of people including children in Kunduz, Afghanistan. The conference strongly condemned the killings of innocent people in held Kashmir and held the Indian government responsible for the grave violation of human rights in held Valley. Earlier, the KBA lawyers had boycotted courts on Saturday as a mark of protest against the killings in Kuduz and in held Kashmir.

Addressing the conference, Munir Malik said judiciary will have to protect its independence. Rasheed A Rizvi said Army chief’s meetings with politicians is not appropriate. The others who addressed the conference included Hamid Khan, Ali Ahmed Kurd, Ashfaq Gilal, Yousaf Riaz and others senior lawyers and members of the bar. They expressed deep concern over some developments that posed a serious threat to the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law in the country. The speakers said judicial activism should not harm the process of the democracy and each institution of the state should work independently without interfering into the orbit of the other institution. The lawyers praised the Chief Justice’s healthy actions including the rejection of a petition against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.