The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, has said that the Constitution of Pakistan ensures complete protection of fundamental rights and freedom to human beings and added that courts are made responsible to safeguard these rights.
While addressing the Lahore High Court Bar Association here on Sunday morning, he said that concept of formation of a civic society was meaningless if it did not protect freedom of a person. Protecting the fundamental rights of citizens and providing fair and cheaper justice to them was the utmost job of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and added that only an independent judiciary could protect the Constitution.
He said that Supreme Court helped those people who did not know even where to go for seeking justice and added that all the institutions, including the Parliament and the bureaucrats were equal in the eyes of the law. He said suo motu action was not meant for speedy disposal of any case, but to provide justice to the helpless people. He said Constitution of Pakistan allows the Supreme Court and the High Courts to take such actions for redressal of grievances of the poor and to move against any illegal deed of the functionaries of the state. The fundamental rights of people could not be curtailed or curbed by any functionary of the state, he remarked.
He said that judges could not close their doors for helpless people, who failed in getting justice even after adopting due course of law. He said they took action on the offence against society, which provided justice to a number of poor people.
He said their action was neither against any person nor against any institution, but aimed at betterment of people and welfare of the society. He said his colleagues did their utmost and disposed of 12,000 cases of human rights, which reduced the backlog of such cases pending before the court. He said it was a big achievement of his team and added that by such action they tried to work for supremacy of law and providing justice to the people of Pakistan.
He said that the nations and the countries, who failed to protect these rights and tried to run their affairs through dictatorship could not exist and ruined ultimately. "The concept of dictatorial rule and collectivism no more exists in the present age, and the countries, which adopted this course faced its consequences."
The Chief Justice of Pakistan maintained that freedom and fundamental rights are part and parcel of each other and added that the concept of Constitution was to run the affairs and use the authority of the state with the consent of the people and their representatives. While commenting on the reference against him, he said: "I am a lawyer and a judge and not a political leader, therefore, I just want to keep the rule of law, and advise the lawyers to maintain unity among their ranks in their struggle for the rule of law."
He said that the courts could not work properly without cooperation of the bar, adding, lawyers are duty bound to guide the needy people and it is mandatory for the courts to redress their grievances. He observed that bar and the bench are essential parts of the justice system which redresses the grievance of the aggrieved.
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ehsan in his address to the bar members said that in past judiciary never said "no to the dictators, but Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for the first time in history of the country did so and that is why people of Pakistan gave him so respect."
Earlier, president of the bar, Ehsan Bohan welcomed the Chief Justice of Pakistan and thanked the bar representatives and others for attending this function in such a large number.