ISLAMABAD
Supreme Court (SC) Justice Athar Minallah has written an emphatic letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, calling for the convening of a conference to consider threats to the judiciary while also lamenting the use of the apex court as an instrument to suppress the people’s will by “unelected elite”, it emerged on Tuesday. In the seven-page letter, which Dawn has seen, Justice Minallah said that the missive was being recorded as a “solemn duty to the Constitution and to place on record for future generations how their destiny was being shaped behind the marble walls of the last resort of justice”.
He said that it was being written in the wake of recent events, which had greatly eroded public confidence in the judiciary.
“Institutions are not built overnight, but they can be destroyed in no time through fear, surrender or submission to the powers. The history of our judiciary is not unblemished nor flattering. However, its past failings, no matter how grave, cannot justify its continued capture to serve the interests of the unelected elites,” he said. Justice Minallah said that as a sitting SC judge, he felt it was his duty to raise his concerns regarding the erosion of the people’s trust.
“I had taken an oath to defend, protect, and preserve the Constitution, but find myself helpless because the fundamental rights covenanted to the people have too often been reduced to mere cliché or rhetoric. We may pretend otherwise, but the stark reality is unpleasant and embarrassing for me as a judge of the highest Court and as a guardian of the Constitution,” he said. — DNA
