ISLAMABAD, July 28: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Saturday asked the legal community to remain on guard and not allow any unconstitutional or extra-constitutional measure to rock the smooth sailing of the nation’s boat.

“This is truly a historic moment. Today the people of Pakistan are looking towards the bar and the bench. Let’s not fail them,” the chief justice said at a workshop on “Access to Justice Development Fund”, funded by the Asian Development Bank. The workshop was held at the Supreme Court Auditorium.

This was the first public appearance of the chief justice after his reinstatement to the office of the country’s top adjudicator. Among others, the workshop was attended by Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice M. Javed Buttar, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Tariq Parvez and Supreme Court registrar Dr Faqir Hussain.

The chief justice asked the legal fraternity not to waste what had been achieved in the last four months and called upon the bar and the bench to provide a vision and a direction for realising the dream of achieving good governance.

“Let’s strive to make institutions of state flourish in their own right so that they may serve the people of Pakistan better,” he said.

“Let’s together ensure the sustained growth of an independent judiciary and a fearless media for these two institutions are the guardians of public interest and rights.”

For once, he said, Pakistanis had proved American professor Keith B. Collard wrong, who had said: “No one is willing to die for the preservation of the Constitution in Pakistan.”

“I feel proud to say that not only judiciary and 90,000 plus black- coated fraternity, but the entire civil society is ready to sacrifice everything for upholding the Constitution and achieving the rule of law.”

He said there was no short cut to achieve national development and earn a respectable name among the comity of nations. The only route to such success, he said, was the development of national institutions at par with each other, working independently and within well-defined spheres for the sole objective of providing people a safe and sound environment to live according to their dreams and abilities.

Unfortunately, because of constitutional deviations in our national history, judiciary like other institutions also suffered decline, the chief justice deplored.

“Let bygones be bygones but we should learn lessons from our past,” the chief justice said and urged to seize the defining moment in national history in which not only the holder of a constitutional post was restored to his office but also the hope for a better future stood revived.

“The future is glistening with potential of providing level playing field to all citizens to rise to their level of abilities, a future where rule of law prevails, where all citizens of this nation are treated without any discrimination and where they are given the opportunity to decide how and who will represent them.”