Pakistani nation is very much familiar with the term ‘suo motu’ courtesy Iftikhar Chaudhry’s overweening propensity to apply this provision of common law frequently.What it actually admired is open to critique. A genuine judicial revolution to usher in that elusive dawn of quick and cheap access to justice for the rich and the poor remained a dream.
Our lower judiciary remained unreformed. Someone should have introduced Chaudhry to another common law tradition, i.e. ‘sua ponte’ that could have enabled him to be more effective through direct oversight.An alleviation of the common man’s plight was apparently not on Iftikhar Chaudhry’s agenda as he was occupied by more important media-catching cases that fetched instant publicity.
His conduct in the case of his son Arsalan also did not measure up to the standards of high rectitude and probity that he diurnally preached to venal politicians and bureaucrats. His was an era of institutional neglect and turf obsession wherein he sedulously built up a personality cult without contributing in any significant manner to rebuilding the judicial institution, especially the lower judiciary.
Brig(r) Raashid Wali Janjua
pk.shafaqna.com
Iftikhar Chaudhry’s legacy: Justice still on the dock
