LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah said on Wednesday that corrupt judges in the lower judiciary would not be tolerated and would be thrown out of the institution.

He said the elimination of black sheep and nonprofessional elements in the ranks of lawyers had become inevitable to restore the dignity of the legal profession.

The chief justice was addressing the leaders of district bar associations of Punjab at the Judicial Academy. He said complaints against judges would be decided in 15 days.

The chief justice said it was an open secret that the functioning of the lower judiciary was not up to the mark and support of lawyers was critical for reform. Justice Shah said no one would be allowed to get favourable decisions by harassing women judges, especially, and locking the courts. He urged senior and professional lawyers to play their role to get the bars rid of miscreants.

The chief justice said, “Lawyers are my family and I would like to become a lawyer again if given another life.”

Later, he held a meeting with Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed and other functionaries to explore ways for good working relationship with the provincial government.

Senior Puisne judge Shahid Hameed Dar, Justice Yawar Ali and Registrar Tariq Iftikhar accompanied the chief justice at the meeting while the home secretary, the law secretary, the prosecution secretary and others represented the government.

The meeting also discussed implementation of high court’s orders about payment of ad-hoc relief allowance to court’s employees withheld for years.

Chief Justice Shah vowed to remove every obstacle in the way of rendering swift justice to public in the province.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016