BAHAWALPUR Dec 10: The judiciary’s failure to ensure good governance in the country came under discussion at the concluding session of a three-day national jurists’ conference on the Lahore High Court (Bahawalpur Bench) premises on Sunday. Judges on the other hand blasted the bar, saying the lawyers should have questioned their senior colleagues’ performance.

Speakers, including Senator Abdul Latif Khosa, Ijaz Chaudhry, Qazi Bilal Ahmed and Mumtaz Hussain Bazmi in their papers said that since the case of the late Maulvi Tamizuddin in the Supreme Court the role of the judiciary had not been laudable and did not reflect the aspirations of the people.

Senator Khosa praised the chief justice for taking note of human rights violations. But, he added, the chief justice should also take suo moto note of the president’s uniform and 17th Amendment. He added that the amendment, in fact, was a slight amended form of the Provisional Constitutional Order. He asked how could one expect good governance when the army had been allowed to rule the country.

Khosa said that the government was being run without people’s support. He said that Balochistan was being ruled by the establishment. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), he said, was confronting the ruling Pakistan Muslim League. He said the government itself had blamed MQM activists for rise in street crime. He said the army should defend the frontiers of Pakistan and the country should be strengthened with a strong federation. He said good governance was the responsibility of civil society and lawyers should rise to the occasion.

Ijaz Chaudhry said that assigning good governance to the judges was making them walk on swords. He said they knew how to justify the wrongdoings by the executive and legislature while avoiding the perpetual intervention in their functioning. He asked if the judiciary was properly checked.

Chief guests justices Jahangir Arshad and Khalid Alvie expressed their displeasure over the speeches and asked the lawyers that they should have been vocal in the inaugural session on Friday instead of “begging” Rs5 million from the government.

Justice Arshad stressed the need for cordial relations between the bar and bench and said they should not forget that in the past a chief justice was removed and another was inducted into the office by amending the constitution. He asked the participants to question the performance of their senior colleagues instead of criticising the judiciary. He said the court fee waiver case had been delayed for 20 years. He said that the lawyers should debate professional issues and the role of Punjab and Pakistan bar councils. He said those councils had not canceled the license of any senior lawyer working against their interests and that the judiciary could not undo any law passed by parliament.

Justice Alvi, keeping his paper aside, said that the difference of opinion should be made in a positive manner. He said that none of the lawyers had ever felt the agony of litigants over the delay in justice and the adjournment of cases.

He said that judiciary’s strength had always been far below the required. In 1950, he said, nearly 50 judges were needed in the LHC keeping in view the workload. Even today, when the work load had increased manifold, the LHC had 35 judges, he added.

High Court Bar Association President Malik Saed Ejaz concluded the session.