ISLAMABAD, June 29: Supreme Court Chief Justice-designate Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said on Wednesday that the way justice was being dispensed had spread dismay and disillusionment in the society. “Let there be a candid admission that substantial justice has been elusive in our society and the role of judiciary and the way justice is being dispensed has made the man in the street dismayed and disillusioned,” Justice Chaudhry observed at a full court reference held in honour of the outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui.

The reference was also attended by judges of the Supreme Court, Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan, Advocates-General of the provinces, members of the Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association and senior lawyers.

Editorials in the national dailies and voices on the floor of the National Assembly, demanding accountability of judges by the National Accountability Bureau demonstrated a serious crisis of confidence that had shaken the foundation of judicial hierarchy, Justice Chaudhry said.

Delay in dispensation of justice was a denial of justice that bred a chaotic and lawless society, he said, adding stable and organized society always got sustenance from stable judicial institutions.

“We have lost moral moorings as every one of us craves for a high office and an exalted position to have an ascendancy over others in the society,” Justice Chaudhry observed. “Such tendencies have bred contempt and hatred in the minds of the people for wielders of such positions of authority. Unalloyed, undiluted and unbiased dispensation of justice is the only panacea to cure such maladies, the society is suffering from,” he said.

Meanwhile, Justice Siddiqui said the survival of democracy as well as the country solely depended on the performance of judiciary. Societies, where justice was missing were bound to vanish, he said.

He deplored the trend of filing frivolous cases that not only waste precious courts time but also over burden it by adding pendency.

Already there were 30,000 cases pending before the Supreme Court and the number was growing despite the fact that in 2004, the apex court disposed of a large number of old pending cases.

He hoped that the apex court would discharge its responsibility it owed to the people in accordance with the Constitution and law.