HYDERABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali has said that the bench and bar would have to discharge their professional obligations to satisfy litigants in the larger interest of the judicial system’s survival.

By improving performance of the bench and bar, issues confronting the judicial system presently could be overcome, he said while addressing a farewell dinner hosted in his honour by the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) late on Monday.

Today, he regretted, advocates of Hyderabad lacked the competence their seniors used to have in the ’70s. He said this was the time when he got associated with the Hyderabad District Bar Association (HDBA) from his father’s law firm. Then came decline in the judicial system and advocates’ performance, which could be attributed to various reasons, he added.

Expressing satisfaction over appointment of judges at every level in the judiciary, he said it was being done on merit and with honesty. Able, hard-working and honest young lawyers were joining the profession to play a positive role, he said, adding that this would bring improvement in the judicial system.

He stated that advocacy was a full-time job and one had to disassociate from all other activities to emerge as a successful lawyer. He said the profession demanded that lawyers must have humanitarian considerations; they should never avoid giving sacrifices for the cause of justice.

He said that with the cooperation of lawyers, unnecessary delay in disposal of cases could be overcome.

The CJP said he owed everything to Hyderabad and its district bar association. He said he was one of those lucky lawyers who worked with able and competent civil and criminal lawyers of Hyderabad. He expressed gratitude to the High Court Bar Association and Hyderabad District Bar Association for remembering him even after 18 years.

He said the Hyderabad bar was always a name to be reckoned with.

Sindh High Court Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah in his brief address said that the CJP had always been kind to junior lawyers. He said he always found him (CJP) to be a judge who encouraged junior lawyers.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2016