March 12, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

KARACHI, March 11: The deposed chief justice of the Sindh High Court, Sabihuddin Ahmed, said on Tuesday that a democratic society must have an independent judiciary, which could dispense speedy justice and protect people’s rights.

He said the fundamental requirement of a democratic society was an independent judiciary, and while performing its responsibilities according to the constitution, the judiciary must not take care of any irritation on the part of the executive. “When we say that we are living in a democratic society, our objective must not be to facilitate any particular group, but to protect all rights (given by the constitution) of every citizen of the country, including the minorities,” he said.

Speaking at a seminar held here in connection with the ‘Black flag week’, being observed across the country to mark the first anniversary of the removal of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Sabihuddin Ahmed said the independence of the judiciary was the independence of the nation. He added that the lawyers had initiated the ongoing struggle but besides the participation of some political parties, the media and civil society had played a very crucial role in the movement.

Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Munir A. Malik, said it was for the first time in the history of the country that a chief justice had refused to resign and shown a great deal of determination in resisting a general.

The Murree declaration

Commenting upon the Murree declaration, he said it would benefit not only the country but also its politics if the declaration was faithfully implemented.

The former SCBA chief further said the ongoing struggle was not only for the restoration of the pre-PCO judiciary but its original aim was to achieve the fundamental rights of the people given in the Constitution through an independent and pro-people judiciary. “We are also against the VIP culture and our struggle is also against it,” he said.

He also underlined the need for judicial reforms in the country and said every citizen of the country must have access to justice, adding that once the pre-PCO judiciary was restored, it would be a pro-people judiciary.

Sindh High Court Bar Association president Rasheed A. Rizvi said the bar wanted to nullify all steps taken by Pervez Musharraf on Nov 3 as he did not have the right to suspend or amend the constitution.

He said the deposed judges could be reinstated through an executive order, but to keep parliament’s sovereignty in view, the lawyers would accept the reinstatement through a resolution. He, however, cautioned that conspiracies were being hatched in the presidency after the announcement of the declaration.

He warned that the entire nation would besiege the Supreme Court if any hurdle was created in the way of the reinstatement of the deposed judges.