ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Friday said judgments rendered by late Justice Mohammad Haleem put the country back on rails of parliamentary democracy as envisaged in the constitution.
He was speaking at a full court reference held to pay homage to the late chief justice of Pakistan who died on August 11.
Citing Haji Saifullah and Benazir Bhutto cases, the chief justice observed that the judgments rendered by Justice Haleem paved the way for parliamentary democracy by upholding a high court ruling of declaring the dissolution of the then assemblies unconstitutional and illegal.
This was only possible because of unfailing devotion to duty and dispensation of justice by strict adherence to the terms of the oath of office of the judges, he said.
The CJP said Justice Haleem believed in doing justice to the powerful and weak alike without fear and favour and his judgments reflected his grasp of law, possible only through extensive research.
Justice Haleem authored the famous judgment in Benazir Bhutto case which made the holding of 1988 general elections possible on party basis, the CJP said.
“After revival of the constitution, the court under his leadership stood up to enforce the constitution by striking down the provisions of the Political Parties Act, giving arbitrary powers to the election commissioners to reject the registration of any political party,” he said.
He observed that Justice Haleem had the rare honour of representing third generation of his family dedicated to the profession of law. It was probably this influence permeating in his lineage that though he was commissioned in Pakistan Navy in 1954 but decided to quit it and join the birds of a feather with whom flocked his two immediate generations.
His grandfather Molvi Mohammad Naseem and father Barrister Mohammad Waseem were leading lawyers of their times. The concept of socio-economic justice seemed to be a constant theme of his thinking. He quoted Justice Haleem’s observation from Benazir case that: “The intention of the framers of the constitution, as it seems to me, is to implement the principles of social and economic justice enshrined in the principles of policy within the framework of fundamental rights - they constitute the main thrust of the commitment to socio-economic justice.”
