15 October 2004	Friday	29 Shaban 1425

LAHORE, Oct 14: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nazim Husain Siddiqui said here on Thursday that people seemed disappointed with poor check and balance and absence of rule in the country.

Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Punjab Bar Council, the chief justice said litigation was on the increase because the people were generally dissatisfied because they felt being deprived of their socio-economic rights and justice increasingly going beyond their reach.

"We all have a responsibility to redress the grievances of the people and gradually build their confidence in judiciary", the chief justice told a select gathering of Supreme Court and Lahore High Court judges and lawyers, mostly members of the Punjab Bar Council and the Punjab government law officers.

Justice Nazim Siddiqui said the bad image about the rule of law had hampered foreign investment. He also reminded lawyers that they had a duty to protect and safeguard the 1973 constitution which, he said, was a working constitution although it was amended several times because of the need of the time.

The chief justice called for a change in the judicial procedures to simplify courts' working and help litigants get speedy justice. He said the people wanted speedy justice and the judiciary and lawyers would have to come up to their help.

Earlier, PBC vice-chairman Tanvirur Rehman Randhawa spelled out difficulties the lawyers community and the profession face as a whole because of a mushroom growth of law colleges which were offering poor quality education.