Removal of 60 judges crippled economy: Aitzaz

LAHORE - The November 3 PCO by General Pervez Musharraf has produced a ‘subservient’ judiciary whereof confidence of the foreign investors has been badly shaken and has crippled economy of the country. A sovereign and strong Parliament is out of question without an independent judiciary which has also to play a pivotal role in bringing true democracy in the country, said president Supreme Court Bar Association Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan while addressing a seminar organised by Pakistan Judicial Crisis Management Committee on the subject ‘Role of Lawyers’ Movement and Independence of Judiciary’ here Monday.
President Lahore High Court Bar Association Anwar Kamal, former president LHCBA Pir Kaleem Ahmad Khursheed, president Lahore Bar Association Manzoor Qadir and chairman of the committee Shafqat Mahmood Choudhan were the other speakers at the seminar.
Aitzaz Ahsan said the removal of over 60 judges of the superior courts in one stroke had badly tarnished the image of our judiciary as an independent institution as a consequence of which, he added, foreign investment, a key factor in bolstering economy of a country has come to a halt. He said when the impression of ‘vulnerable to pressure’ about the judges had been established after they had taken oath under the PCO, no investor would trust the judicial system and risk investing in the country. Resultantly the country is facing the present serious economic crunch and a miserable life of the people.
He said in Europe judiciary was made independent three centuries before the democracy came there and he questioned, how the prime minister can claim sovereignty of the Parliament when the judiciary was dependent.
He said independent judiciary comes through the judges having independent mind and how one can become so after a long detention as was the case with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry along with his family members. He said a judge in that state of mind would even fear an ordinary officer. He maintained that judiciary would be called independent only if November 2 judiciary is back to their office. He called upon the government to restore that judiciary at the earliest keeping in view the larger public interest.