LAHORE: Former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Wednesday the judiciary in Pakistan encountered a scathing criticism for validating extra-constitutional steps.

He said no expectation could be attached with the military dictators to allow judiciary to work independently, however, “when a civilian government works against the judiciary, it leads to forming an opinion that they do not like an independent judiciary.”

The former CJ was speaking at the launch of book “A history of the judiciary in Pakistan” authored by senior lawyer and political leader Hamid Khan. The Oxford University Press published the book. Mr Chaudhry told the participants that the book conveniently could be divided into two parts, one before the commencement of the lawyers movement and other after the movement. He said the era drastically brought about changes in the behaviour of the judiciary which was supported by civil society.

Former chief justice Jawwad S. Khwaja also spoke on the occasion and shared his views about Khan’s book. Being author of a landmark judgment for the enforcement of Urdu as official language in Pakistan as required by the Constitution, Khwaja shared most of his views in Urdu and avoided English language. He also urged Hamid Khan to get his book translated into Urdu.

He said no country level struggle could be successful without the participation of the public. And the participation of the public could not be achieved without a wider communication.

He said law and the Constitution of the country were far away from ground realities. He urged judges to make their decision more rational.

Earlier, OUP Managing Director Ameena Saiyid said the press was planning to publish 70 books in 2017 to mark the 70 years of Pakistan’s independence.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2016