"I could have been the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) by reading merely a few lines, but I did not go for that because my first interest was Pakistan," said Justice Javed Iqbal, who stands second in seniority among Supreme Court judges, while addressing a delegation of National School of Public Policy on Thursday.
Referring to the 2007 PCO promulgated by former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, Justice Iqbal said he was heading an eleven-judge bench of the apex court, which was hearing the eligibility case of Musharraf during the period. The judges were confined to their houses, he said, terming it a period of turmoil.
He paid rich tribute to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and termed him a symbol of braveness, boldness and establishing rule of law. "The chief justice is the person who changed the course of history, and today's democratic regime is fruit of his struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution," he remarked.
He lamented the failure of institution to deliver, perform their due role saying that corruption is penetrating the national fiber with each passing day and has become part of our culture that has brought the state structure to the brink of collapse.
"There should be no doubt that where there is misuse of power and grip of corruption, the Supreme Court would act immediately," he said, adding that they are working for the four principles ie Supremacy of Constitution, Rule of Law, preservation of democratic system and strengthening of the nation-building institutions.
"We are the custodians of the constitution and it is our foremost duty to preserve it irrespective of likes or dislikes as far as justice is concerned. We are cognisant of the fact that people of Pakistan have great expectations from judiciary and we will not hesitate in taking prompt action in the larger national interest," he added.
Justice Javed Iqbal brushed aside the impression that suo motu jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was an overstepping of its jurisdiction. While explaining the reason of suo motu actions, he said that most of the departments have failed to deliver as per expectations. Had they worked, hundreds of applications would have not landed in the court calling the Chief Justice to remedy the situation, he added.
In such circumstance, he said, there was no other option but to take suo motu action being within the four corners of the constitution. "It is (suo motu jurisdiction) which is safeguarding the interests of people and will continue because a drastic change has been witnessed by applying this jurisdiction," he added. In order to portray a clear picture, which compelled the court to take suo motu actions, Justice Javed Iqbal referred to a suo motu action which he took on the issue where Balochistan government had expressed its helplessness to allot a piece of land for hospital in Gawadar.
After the action, it became clear that the land was distributed among the generals and politicians at throw away prices. Justice Iqbal said the then Chief Minister sent me a letter offering 50 plots to hush up the issue. "However, I refused to take plots because this wealth belongs to the people of Pakistan," he added.
He did mention the case of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), Bank of Punjab (BoP) loan scam in which billions of rupees of the nation have been recovered by the appropriate action of the court. Justice Javed Iqbal posed a question to the delegation comprising bureaucrats after presenting some examples, 'should SC sit quiet and watch?' and said no action should be taken?. However, he made it clear that the actions taken by the court were not person- specific but only to safeguard the system which was on the verge of collapse.