LAHORE, March 25: Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday said on Tuesday it would be wrong to assume that the judiciary, after its restoration, would lean towards any political party or an individual.

“The judges will rise above the bond political parties, lawyers and civil society have developed during their drive for the restoration of the judiciary deposed under the Nov 3 PCO,” he said while answering questions during his meeting with a delegation of the Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP) at his GOR residence.

Saying that a judge had no friend or foe, Justice Ramday said if political parties were espousing the cause of the judiciary, they were doing it for a `greater cause’.

The apex court judge said some people had a narrow perspective of the movement because they failed to step back and see it in a larger context. “Whatever the people of this country are doing, I am very clear in my mind that they are not doing it for my benefit,” he said adding, “Indeed, they are doing it for themselves and for their generations to come. It’s not a favour to me at all.”

Justice Ramday said he had keenly been watching the movement for the independence of judiciary after March 9, 2007, when a presidential reference was filed against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and he was removed for the first time.

The removal of the chief justice of Pakistan turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the people as they abruptly stood up for their rights, he said and added that the whole nation must hold accountable those who had done the wrong.

The judge, who headed a 13-member Supreme Court bench which quashed the presidential reference and reinstated the CJP on July 20, said the people experienced many sufferings – including the unfortunate break-up of the country – but after March 9, 2007, they rediscovered themselves. He added that lawyers, people from all walks of life and the media had made it clear to the world that they were capable of doing the right.

Justice Ramday said the judiciary alone could not claim the credit for the success because the people of this country had played a crucial role. To a question on the future of the judiciary, he said: “The judiciary is only a part of the issue. If society is awake, no institution of the state could go wrong.”

He urged the people not to rest with the restoration of the deposed judges “because it would be a small step toward the right direction.”

Earlier, CCP representative Hamid Zaman congratulated the judge on termination of his detention and expressed the hope that the pre-Nov 3 judiciary would be restored soon.

The CCP activists gathered in front of Justice Ramday’s residence and chanted slogans against Musharraf.