AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
AIRLINK 127.04 Decreased By ▼ -0.95 (-0.74%)
BOP 6.67 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.06%)
CNERGY 4.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.96%)
DCL 8.55 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.83%)
DFML 41.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.1%)
DGKC 86.85 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (0.31%)
FCCL 32.28 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (0.44%)
FFBL 64.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.62 (-0.95%)
FFL 10.25 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
HUBC 109.57 Decreased By ▼ -0.92 (-0.83%)
HUMNL 14.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-0.47%)
KEL 5.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.56%)
KOSM 7.46 Increased By ▲ 0.34 (4.78%)
MLCF 41.38 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-0.65%)
NBP 60.41 Increased By ▲ 0.32 (0.53%)
OGDC 190.10 Decreased By ▼ -4.59 (-2.36%)
PAEL 27.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-0.43%)
PIBTL 7.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-2.13%)
PPL 150.06 Decreased By ▼ -1.11 (-0.73%)
PRL 26.88 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PTC 16.07 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.44%)
SEARL 86.00 Increased By ▲ 7.80 (9.97%)
TELE 7.71 Increased By ▲ 0.32 (4.33%)
TOMCL 35.41 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.73%)
TPLP 8.12 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.65%)
TREET 16.41 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (3.27%)
TRG 53.29 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (1%)
UNITY 26.16 Decreased By ▼ -0.39 (-1.47%)
WTL 1.26 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.79%)
BR100 9,884 Decreased By -36.4 (-0.37%)
BR30 30,600 Decreased By -151.5 (-0.49%)
KSE100 93,355 Increased By 130.9 (0.14%)
KSE30 28,931 Increased By 46 (0.16%)
Print Print 2005-04-01

Partly Facetious: studied delay in approving judges' appointments

"The Chief Justice says courts are not empowered to change even a comma in the Constitution."
Published April 1, 2005

"The Chief Justice says courts are not empowered to change even a comma in the Constitution."
"That's very true. If only the rest of us would take our constitutional obligations just as diligently..."
"He says that Parliament is the proper forum for settling political issues."
"Ah, there I disagree."
"Parliament is not the proper forum you believe?"
"Perhaps in the old and tried democracy. But in our new and improved democracy it doesn't appear to be the proper forum."
"So what is the proper forum? GHQ?"
"Not even that I am afraid. Decisions about the Constitution are taken in the President's office."
"Yes, but that is only during times when we have referendumed presidents."
"When else have we needed the courts to interpret the Constitution for us?"
"Remember Bhutto, the architect of the 1973 Constitution! He changed his own Constitution. "Then there was Nawaz Sharif - he added clauses and..."
"But these two had the mandak if you will. I mean if any one person gets such a mandak then they should be allowed to change the Constitution."
"Oh, I see and you reckon Musharraf didn't have the mandak!"
"No."
"Then what about the results of the referendum?"
"Don't give me a hard time. Let's drop it. What else did the Chief Justice say?"
"That there was a delay in filling posts of judges in the top court and that he himself certainly did not delay in recommending the names. The decision, he added, had to be taken by the President."
"Constitutionally?"
"Yep."
"It's a merry go round, right?"
"Indeed. But what surprises me is that the President has never delayed anything in his life, even decisions that would have been better delayed have been taken promptly. So why is he so reluctant to appoint judges?"
"When you figure out the answer everything else will be made clear."
"Why don't you tell me?"
"Nope. That's not in the national interest."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2005

Comments

Comments are closed.