“We will not accept any undemocratic setup,” says chief justice, slamming what he sees as false accusations against judiciary
LAHORE
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmad has denied accepting any pressure from any institution and taking any dictation forbidding the mongers who spread ‘lies’ while cautioning them that they are weakening the state in this way.
Addressing the two-day Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore on Saturday, Justice Gulzar Ahmad made it clear “Our courts are working freely. There is no pressure from any side on them.”
A charged Chief Justice of Pakistan said “I have always upheld the law and the Constitution while delivering my judgments. My verdicts are as per my conscience.”
He said “I accept no dictation. I have never seen any dictation. I work as per law so do all the other judges of the Supreme Court.”
He said that in institutions there is always rule of law and not the rule of individuals. Nobody dared interfere in my decisions, he added. He said the judges of high courts were working diligently to dispense justice among people.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad asked the audience to enlighten him whether he accepted any pressure from any quarter. While expressing his ire over former SCBA president Ali Ahmad Kurd, Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmad offered him to read the court judgements.
“We work without pressure. And we will continue to work independently. There is rule of law in Pakistan, not the rule of mere individuals. We will continue supporting law, constitution and democracy in Pakistan. We will never accept any undemocratic setup. In such scenario, we will better quit our jobs as we have done before,” the CJP stated.
It is pertinent to mention here that Mr Kurd in his address alleged that the judiciary worked under the pressure of some institutions.
The CJP was addressing Asma Jahangir Conference-2021 titled “The Role of Judiciary for the Protection of Human Rights and Strengthening of Democracy’ in Lahore which was attended by a host of legal fraternity, besides important national and international dignitaries.
Chief justices of the Lahore and Islamabad high courts, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti also participated in the session. Besides these senior judges, the senior members of the bar and envoys of foreign missions in Islamabad are also attending the conference. Ahsan Bhoon, President of Supreme Court Bar Association, Khushdil Khan, Vice Chairman, Pakistan Bar Council, and Ali Ahmed Kurd, former SCBA president and senior journalist Hamid Mir are among the prominent participants.
Androulla Kaminara, Ambassador of the European Union to Pakistan, Wouter Plomp, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Pakistan, Wendy Gilmour, Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr. Philipp Deichmann, Deputy of Ambassador of Germany to Pakistan, Christian Turner, British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Knut Ostby, Resident Representative of UNDP Pakistan, and Dr Agnes Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International, are going to address the inaugural session on Saturday.
