Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar has said, "we (the superior judiciary) should not repeat our past blunders and must work within the parameters set in the Constitution." He was addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Islamabad High Court here on Tuesday.
He said, "due to the peculiar circumstances in the recent past, I and my colleagues in the Supreme Court as well as the Chief Justices and Judges of the High Courts had to work very hard to rehabilitate the system, the interruption of which was the result of nothing else, but our own blunders of taking upon ourselves the job of others."
The Chief Justice was obviously referring to the thousands of suo motu notices taken by the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, which the previous government considered as interference in the domain of the executive.
Justice Dogar said: "Let us not repeat the same. Let us bring stability in the system. Let us do our own job and not take upon ourselves the job of others and work within the parameters set in the Constitution."
He described the establishment of the Islamabad High Court as an important national project, which had been under consideration of many governments of the past.
However, he said the credit goes to President Pervez Musharraf who was able to accomplish the task at an opportune moment despite heavy odds. "It is a step in the advancement of the cause of justice and a mile stone in the annals of judicial history of Pakistan," he added.
He said there is a need to work for an environment of patriotism, tolerance and unity, so that the national issues receive immediate attention and the difference of opinion, particularly the political differences do not forestall their resolution. He said that the litigation has increased enormously and the establishment of Islamabad High Court was greatly justified as there was a large collection of work in the Lahore High Court.
He said that almost 5,000 cases have been transferred from the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench to the Islamabad High Court. Since the Islamabad High Court will also be exercising original jurisdiction in respect of certain categories of cases, nearly 3,500 cases will stand transferred to it from the Islamabad Civil Courts, he added.
The Chief Justice called upon all the stakeholders of the system to focus their attention on the cases of weaker segments of the society, ie women, widows, orphans, condemned prisoners, and other deserving persons. In the process, priority should be given to the old cases.
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