Embarrassing PCO judges
IT is ironical and in fact abhorring that all and sundry think it
appropriate and as a birth right to comment upon the conduct of the
sitting judges of High Courts and Supreme Court of Pakistan in clear
violation of the law and traditions that prohibit discussing their
conduct.
We see almost on a daily basis statements and remarks by political
workers, leaders, members of the legal community and members of the
civil society in which they prefer to call the sitting judges of the
superior courts as “PCO Judges”. It is true that the leadership of the
coalition Government is engaged in an exercise to resolve one of the
ticklish issues of our judicial history. While discussing details of the
judicial crisis and finding a way out, it is, of course, natural that
the incumbent judges of the superior courts do figure in the talks
especially with regard to their status in the emerging scenario. But it
is shocking to describe them tauntingly as PCO judges, which smacks of
impropriety on the part of those who take such a liberty. We feel hurt
when leadership of the Bar, which should set healthy precedents,
indulges in such casual attitude that amounts to degrading the superior
courts and judges. This is reflective of sickness of the mind and is,
therefore, highly deplorable state of affairs for a nation. Regrettably,
the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar,
who has reached pinnacle of his career after his long association with
the judicial service and to which he rightly deserved, is not being
spared by such elements. We believe that judges are cream of the society
who deliver justice to the people and they must not be treated with
contempt as is being done by some people. |
