IN the early years of my life I distinctly remember that while cases were in process in various courts of Pakistan, the public and the media could not comment on the proceedings because a comment would be subjudice.

Once the case was decided, the losing party could not ridicule the judges or the judgment. If they ever attempted to do so they could be held for contempt.

Unfortunately today the sanctity of courts and their judgments has disappeared. To a certain extent the judiciary is also responsible for the present state of affairs. If they had followed the old tradition of ensuring that contempt proceedings were promptly enforced if anyone dared to ridicule a judge or a judgment, no one could have dared to ridicule the judges or their judgments

Farhat Asrar

Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2018