ABBOTTABAD Dec 17 Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan said here on Wednesday that he believed in free and independent judiciary and had played vital role for the supremacy of judiciary.

He said that he had struggled for the restoration of judiciary and would continue to do the same, adding time would prove that his rejoining the bench was a correct decision.

He was addressing a ceremony held in connection with the reconstruction of Peshawar High Court Abbottabad Circuit Bench building, which was badly damaged during October 8, 2005 devastating earthquake.

The chief justice showed displeasure over delay in reconstruction of the high court building, saying that executing agencies had shown slackness in this regard. However, he praised the efforts of deposed chief justice of Supreme Court Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who had taken keen interest in repairing of the damaged portion of the building.

Justice Chaudhry had directed the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority to reconstruct the entire building. He also increased cost of the project from Rs80 million to Rs180 million. Justice Tariq Pervez said the project would be completed in one year time, adding that there would be no compromise on the standard and quality.

The building of Abbottabad Circuit Bench was constructed in 1988 and three inquiries had been held till now to probe the poor construction.

Justice Tariq Pervez said that building was considered a symbol of any institution therefore the construction of circuit bench would be made symbol of justice. Earlier, consultant of Erra Asif Rahat briefed the participants of the ceremony about the building plan. The ceremony was largely attended by high ranking officials of civil administration, judges of lower courts and senior lawyers including Lateef Afridi, president Peshawar High Court Bar Association, Saeed Akhter, vice president Supreme Court Bar Association, and members of NWFP and Pakistan Bar Council.

The meeting also offered Fateha for the departed soul of late Mufti Mohammad Idrees, former advocate general of NWFP, and paid him rich tribute for his meritorious serv- ices. —Correspondent