Suo Moto notices are necessary but Judiciary should not be pandering
Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali
Islamabad, June 03, 2016: “Suo Moto notices are necessary but Judiciary should not be pandering to Media”, said the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali while addressing the 8th Batch of Youth Parliament Pakistan. Young Members called-on the Honourable Chief Justice at the Supreme Court of Pakistan today.
The Chief Justice was responding to a question posed by the Youth Leader of the House on the practice of the Supreme Court taking Suo Moto notice of matters, which has gained much currency in the recent past. The Honourable Chief Justice also said that he wants to keep a low profile and does not believe in personal publicity. There have been various instances where the Supreme Court exercised Suo Moto Notices but only wherever the Court deemed necessary to take such an action. He also stressed that he does not accept the idea to impede in the working of legislature and the executive, where the law does not allow the Supreme Court to interfere and also would not accept any interference in the working of the Supreme Court.
While responding to an earlier question on the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry Commission for the Panama Leaks Case, the Honourable Chief Justice reiterated that identification of the number of people to be investigated under is an issue and owing to the fact that Pakistan has no mutual treaty with Panama, acquiring the requisite information required for a thorough investigation is a hurdle. Hence, the Commission cannot be realistically constituted under the Inquiry Commission Act 1956.
He also lamented that the Government investigation institutions are virtually paralyzed in investigating such cases.
The Honourable Chief Justice said that we as citizens should not fall into the trap of blaming systems for national issues. The machinery of the Government, the legal regimes that we have inherited are not flawed, yet we continue to hide corrupt practices under the cover of pointing out flaws in the system. He quoted the example of structure of the lower courts as being an appropriate structure for the administration of justice in a district. The introduction of parallel courts, such as Narcotics courts and Labour courts has overladen the superior courts with frivolous cases on problems of jurisdiction. and was hopeful for a brighter future for Pakistan.
Talking to the young Members, the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan hoped for a brighter and prosperous future of Pakistan, as he believed that getting trained in the legislative and democratic processes of Pakistan at an early age would help the young Members to think critically and help build a positive future of Pakistan. He encouraged the Members of Youth Parliament to step forward and try to understand the problems our society is facing. He also emphasised that Pakistan is one of the luckiest countries, which is full of natural resources and hardworking citizens, but unfortunately we could not define our priorities and set a direction where Pakistan could fully exploit its resources; problems existed in the leadership.
The Members of the 8th Batch of Youth Parliament Pakistan received an honorary shield from the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan as a token of appreciation.
Renowned Politician and a Senior Constitutional Expert, Senator Dr. Babar Awan addressed the first session of the 8th Youth Parliament Pakistan on Module IV ‘An Overview of Constitution of Pakistan- with special emphasis on 18th Amendment’. He said that he is pushing for legislation in the Senate that calls for appointment of female judges on the bench of the Supreme Court such that they make up one third of the total membership.
Later in the day, the Membership of the 8th Youth Parliament Pakistan visited the Parliament House, Islamabad and observed the live proceedings of the most important Parliamentary sitting of the year- The Budget session 2016-2017.
The Youth Parliament Pakistan is an initiative conceived, planned and facilitated by PILDAT (www.pildat.org). The 8th Youth Parliament Pakistan is supported by the Danish International Development Agency, Government of Denmark as recognition of the importance of young people’s involvement in democracy and democratic practices.
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