Rule of law vital part of civilised society: PM

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday termed the rule of law a vital part of a civilised society and lamented that the political elite in the country continued to demand preferential treatment and considered themselves above the law.

“A country can never progress when two separate streams of justice prevail for the powerful and the weak,” he said, and vowed the government would provide better working conditions to the judiciary to help ensure speedy justice for the public.

Addressing the foundation-laying ceremony of a new judicial complex, he said the project would facilitate all relevant stakeholders, including the bench, bar and petitioners.

The judicial complex, which will be built by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) on land measuring 195,000 square feet, will be completed in six months.

The multi-storey complex will comprise four blocks of 93 district courts, an administrative block, a Bakhshi Khana (lockup for prisoners), a Nadra verification room, and separate waiting areas for lawyers and petitioners.

For the last 40 years, district courts have been functioning within a rented market, without reasonable facilities for judges, lawyers and petitioners.

Terming the dispensation of justice, especially to the weaker segments a priority, the Prime Minister said he had also named his political party 25 years ago on the same title and vision. Khan said he was proud to be part of the “epic democratic struggle” of the 2007 lawyers movement against a military dictator, however regretted that the targets could not be fully achieved.

He pointed out that lingering litigation, particularly in cases of land-grabbing, was a big hurdle in the way to investment by overseas Pakistanis. The Prime Minister lauded Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah for giving several landmark verdicts in the interest of society and environmental protection.

IHC Chief Justice Minallah said access to inexpensive and speedy justice was the basic right of the people, which could be possible only “if all institutions continued to work within their ambits”.

“Supremacy of the law and the Constitution, and abiding by the oath of one’s office is a guarantee to justice and ensures the rights of the nation,” he said.

He said the goals of the 2007 movement had yet to be accomplished as its leaders had promised the masses a journey towards “a state like a mother — that protects and cares for its citizens”.

However, he stressed that such struggle could not be limited to judiciary alone. “The judiciary is but a unit in the judicial system. A society where truthful witnesses become extinct and the committing of crime is overlooked, even a strong judicial system loses its authority,” he said.

Justice Minallah said the efficiency of a judicial system relies on good leadership and proper prosecution by the investigating departments. He said district courts act as the guarantor to upholding the rule of law, however extending facilities to the judicial setup and common man was ignored since the establishment of Islamabad as a capital.

“The day is of utmost importance, because for the first time a government has realised that people are the real stakeholders of the justice system,” he said.