LAHORE: The legal fraternity, including Lahore High Court (LHC) judges, have welcomed the nomination of Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry by the Judicial Commission as the next LHC chief justice (CJ).
He would assume the post after sitting LHC CJ Khawaja Muhammad Sharif would retire on December 8 after reaching the age of superannuation. After receiving news of Justice Ijaz’s elevation, all LHC judges , gathered in Justice Ijaz’s chamber and congratulated him on his elevation. Afterwards, a large number of lawyers also met the judge and congratulated him on the new development.
“Justice Ijaz’s elevation to the office of the CJ is a good example of following merit, as he was the senior most judge after Khawaja Sharif ,” several judges were quoted as saying. According to sources, Justice Ijaz had no link with any political party unlike Khawaja Sharif who had ‘friendly relations’ with the Sharifs.
He was known to be a very honest judge and a man of principles who had never tried to socialise with politicians. Justice Ijaz was known not to succumb to any pressure and did not take oath under the Provincial Constitutional Order (PCO) and also did not address any public rallies during the lawyer’s movement.
He had also rejected the government’s offer to become the LHC CJ instead of Khawaja Sharif when the deposed judges had not been restored. Justice Ijaz had heard important constitutional cases up till now.
He had declared nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer a free man and banned the social networking website Facebook for displaying blasphemous material. Presently, he is heading a LHC full bench, which was hearing constitutional petitions challenging dual offices of President Asif Ali Zardari.
According to judicial sources, the performance of the LHC and lower courts of Punjab would improve under Justice Ijaz’s tenure, as he was a strict and honest administrator who did not tolerate corruption and would keep a firm grip on the administrative affairs of the judiciary.
Justice Ijaz was reported to be against the suo motu culture of the LHC, as it disrupted the routine proceedings of the courts, denying provision of equal justice to all citizens.
PROFILE: Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry was born on December 15, 1950 to a Rajput family of Jabbal village of tehsil Shakargarh, Narowal. After completing BA LLB, he was enrolled as an advocate in lower courts in 1975, the LHC in 1977 and the Supreme Court in 1992.
Justice Ijaz served as the Punjab assistant advocate general from 1988 to 1995 while he also worked as a special prosecutor. He served as the Punjab additional advocate general from December 1999 to April 30, 2001 after which he was appointed a LHC judge on May 2, 2001.
Justice Ijaz would retire from the LHC CJ office after reaching the age of superannuation of 62 years on December 14, 2012.
Legal fraternity hails Justice Ijaz’s nomination as new LHC CJ
