Court Reporter,Daily Dawn, Dawn TV Report
Karachi: Supreme Court Judge Justice Athar Minallah has said that if freedom of expression had not been restricted in 1971, the country would not have been divided, while fundamental rights in the country have become meaningless, and a hybrid system means dictatorship. The Constitution must be followed to move forward.
A seminar on the topic of ‘Independence of the judiciary, constitutional government and access to justice’ was organized by the Karachi Bar Association at the City Court.
Supreme Court Judge Justice Athar Minallah attended the seminar as the chief guest, while former President Supreme Court Bar Munir A. Malik was also among the guests.
Justice Athar Minallah said in his address at the ceremony that when I was invited, I could not refuse because when a young man tells me something, I cannot refuse. Today, if anyone outside has even the slightest doubt about the supremacy of the Constitution, then come to Karachi and see these young men.
He said that our 77-year-old system has become such that people get nervous when mentioning the names of 5 judges who have given the verdict in the Maulvi Tamizuddin case, including Justice Bachal, Justice Villani, Justice Constantine, and Justice Bakhsh.
He said that when the PCCO came, 5 judges of the Supreme Court refused to take the oath. Out of these 6 judges, 5 were from Sindh. Some among them were to become the future Chief Justice, but they took a principled decision, keeping their oath in mind.
Justice Athar Minallah said that the history of the judiciary of 77 years is not something I am proud of, my leader is Munir O. Malik and all those leaders who led the lawyers’ movement, we forget that 90 people gave their lives in the lawyers’ movement, we cannot repay their debt either, they wanted the constitution and the rule of law.
He said that there has been no constitutional governance here for 77 years. I have written in many decisions in the High Court that there is no rule of law; we should never be afraid to admit it.
He said that if we read the words of the oath taken by the judge every morning, there is no need to take any promise. Knowing that Allah is present and watching, we took an oath that we have to defend the constitution, and this is not a favor but a part of our oath.
The Supreme Court judge said that in a society where truth ends, those societies end. The foundation for breaking Pakistan was laid when Pakistan was formed. I will say that we have not learned any lessons from history.
He said that the entire basis of the constitution is this: that the right to rule belongs only to those who are elected representatives of the people, but another condition for this is that no institution or government body will do political engineering.
He further said that whatever public institutions are elected, they should be elected through genuine and transparent elections. Unfortunately, this has also been our dream for 77 years. We are deceiving ourselves and Allah by pretending that everything is fine.
Justice Athar Minallah said that Munir A. Malik said that there is a hybrid system, it means dictatorship, not constitutional governance. To move forward, the constitution has to be followed.
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