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Thursday, July 01, 2010
Judges shouldn’t make political statements, says AitzazStaff Report
LAHORE: Judges should not make political statements but if they want to do so they should first resign from the judiciary and then take active part in politics, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader said on Wednesday.
The former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, talking to the media at the Lahore High Court (LHC), said that judges should avoid making any political statements while in office. The former federal minister said that the judges only speak through their judgments and making political statements was against the ethics laid down by legal jurisprudence. The PPP stalwart told the media that such political statements bring a bad name to the judiciary and also invite criticism from political parties, which is not favourable for the judiciary. Aitzaz lamented that the federal government and the superior courts were headed towards a confrontation, which was not in the national interest.
The renowned legal and constitutional expert dispelled the impression that the judiciary was tilted towards the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and said that the superior courts were dispensing justice on merit. He said that the judiciary would not favour the Punjab chief minister against the Punjab governor, as it was functioning independently. Aitzaz said that the superior courts had disqualified several legislators of the PML-N on fake degree charges, which proved that the judiciary was not favouring the Sharifs. The PPP leader informed the media that parliament had unlimited powers regarding legislation but the government should implement the verdicts of the superior courts. The former federal minister said that he was still undecided about supporting any group in the upcoming SCBA elections. He said that the elections were being contested by two groups, out of which, one was anti-Zardari while the other group was against the chief justice of Pakistan.
Aitzaz said that he had disassociated himself from lawyers politics and would never join it again. The PPP leader told the media that it was the right of the bar associations to get funds from the government but there should be no discrimination in the allotment of the money.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk