Naveed Aman Khan
ADDITIONAL District & Sessions Judge Fateh Jang, Attock, Dr Sajida Ahmad, in an open letter has said that it would have been better for her to rear cattle and make dung cakes in her village than joining the judiciary where she has to face disrespect and naked abuses in court every day from so-called lawyers. Frustrated at the treatment meted to judges of the lower judiciary, including women, the honourable judge went as far as to say that if Islam had not prohibited suicide, she would have taken her own life in front of the Supreme Court building because of the unending abuse, harassment and disrespect she and her colleagues have to face every day as a judge. She lamented that her seniors had done nothing to protect the district judges from this daily humiliation. Dr Sajida Ahmad is the same courageous honourable judge who during the judicial movement had openly supported the cause of an independent judiciary owing to which she had to face the ire of the then CJ LHC who transferred her to Bhakkar as a punishment. She is presently Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fatehjang, Attock. If ultimately the honourable Judge has to face disrespect and naked abuse in court by the so-called lawyers, it would have been far better that she had not wasted her life in obtaining higher education and would have got married like normal Pakistani girls early and not wasted the precious time and money of her parents in obtaining the higher education. In dejection the honourable Judge Dr Sajida Ahmad says that it would have been far better for her to rear the cattles, to make the dung cakes, to help out her agriculturist family and spend a life free of worries and agonies away from the limelight of big cities.
Unfortunately the fruits of the Lawyers’ Movement could not be reaped and have failed to achieve the great cause of the rule of law. We witnessed it being tarnished when the whole world saw the lawyers of the Lahore Bar Association attacking the Pakistan Institute of Cardiology, where heart patients were running everywhere to save their lives. If the district judiciary’s grievances are not taken seriously, the judges will be compelled to write petitions to the UN, the European Commission for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other organisations, highlighting the issue of delinquent lawyers and their daily misconduct towards judges in Pakistan, especially in the district judiciary in Punjab. Ironically, the Punjab district judiciary’s motto is no respect no work. Why criminal proceedings under section 228 PPC and the Contempt of Court Act 2012 are not initiated by the district judiciary against the disruptive, non-professional lawyers present in the district bars. It is because the judges of the district judiciary know very well that they will not get any proper remedy from their superiors but instead will be scolded with comments such as ‘why do you not have the ability to handle such matters tactfully?’ or ‘why can’t you manage your own court?’.
If professional lawyers are under pressure from these non-professional lawyers, then why do they vote and support them when annual elections are held? More than a dozen young and hard-working judges of the district judiciary in Punjab had passed away in recent years but no one had bothered to investigate the real causes of their deaths. The most recent death of Badi-uz-Zaman, Senior Civil Judge Pakpattan, speaks volumes of the pressure faced by judges. Did he die due to a sudden brain haemorrhage? No. Judges are supposed to be snubbed, abused, mentally and physically tortured by the lawyers during office hours and you cannot protect honour of the Judges and save the dignity of their family members. The perks given to the Judges like cars, laptops or the extra pay should not be taken at the cost of their family honour and prestige. Both male and the female judges are continuously being harassed in our courts. Why are the references and complaints against such non-professional lawyers not sent to the Punjab Bar Council and Pakistan Bar Council for the temporary or permanent cancellation of their licenses, despite the seriousness of their daily misconduct and misbehaviour with the presiding officers.
Our media has no time for such issues of serious concerns because it is busy in daily political puppet shows. It’s pity if honourable Judges feel desperate and frustrated and compelled to either burn their educational degrees in front of the honourable Lahore High Court or in front of the august Supreme Court of Pakistan as a protest so that no girl among should dare to come and serve great homeland with zeal. Being a daughter of the soil honour in this most prestigious and dignified profession is of no worth. The verbal as well as physical attacks of so-called lawyers on the general public and police, in the premises of the courts and upon the presiding officers have become a routine matter under the nose of the superior judges. The judges provide justice to all, there is no justice for the judges. The matter of honourable Judge Dr Sajida Ahmad reflects the worst state of the governance and conduct of the judicial system. The letter of Dr Sajida Ahmad read verbatim. The noble profession of the lords has been hijacked by non-professionals and black sheep. It is an offence against the public at large when a sitting judge is abused, threatened and beaten in the courts. Petitions against such arrogant lawyers should be sent to the provincial and federal ombudsman pleading workplace harassment. Will honourable Chief Justice Supreme Court and Federal Ombudsman wake up and take the culprits to task providing timely justice to honourable judges of lower courts? Will the Prime Minister Imran Khan take serious notice of this drastic issue and don’t let black sheep disgrace honourable judiciary of the country?
—The writer is book ambassador, columnist, political analyst and author of several books based in Islamabad.
