ISLAMABAD, July 16: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Saturday emphasized the need of zero-tolerance to corruption in judiciary and recalled how so many judicial officers tainted with the allegations of corruption had been fired.

“We including chief justices of all the high courts are committed to rooting out corruption from the judiciary,” the chief justice observed saying the judiciary would be purged of the menace of corruption.

The chief justice was speaking at the 17th Roll Signing ceremony of newly enrolled Advocates of the Supreme Court.

Twenty nine new advocates, 13 from Balochistan, 13 from Punjab, two from Sindh and one from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were enrolled as the counsel who can now practice in the Supreme Court. The ceremony was held in the Supreme Court Building.

The advocates introduced himself before the chief justice and then signed the roll in front of him.

While congratulating the newly enrolled advocates, the chief justice requested them to point out corrupt elements in the judiciary to get rid of such elements in future. The chief justice also suggested to the advocates to bring into the notice of the bar councils corrupt elements amongst the bars who were bringing bad name to the profession.

Referring to the two-year long lawyers’ movement, the chief justice observed that the campaign, supported by all segments of the society and meant for rule of law, supremacy of constitution and independence of judiciary brought a revolution in the country that also instilled a new spirit of trust and hope in judiciary.

The enhanced trust in the legal profession has now put a great responsibility on the shoulders of the lawyers requiring them to stick to professionalism and show commitment and dedications by justifying the rule of law and catering to the legal needs of litigants in order to fulfill their expectations and redress their grievances.

Being a lawyer of Supreme Court, the chief justice suggested, the newly enrolled advocates were supposed to fulfill the expectation with full dedication for the cause of administration of justice under the constitution and that the cases should be disposed of according to the legal and constitutional mandate.

“There is no difference between Bench and Bar, the responsibility of the both is to ensure administration of justice in accordance with the law,” the chief justice said adding it was the legal right of every citizen to have access to justice as envisaged in the constitution.

And it is the duty of the advocate to assist the court while it is the duty of the judge to deliver a judgment, the chief justice said adding without the cooperation and active participation of advocates, the goal of administration of justice could not beachieved.