LAHORE – Supreme Court Bar Association President Asma Jahangir has said that the judiciary was illegally influencing upcoming polls of the Pakistan Bar council (PBC), only to usher in a pro-judiciary lobby in the bar. She said it spoke volumes of the attitude of the judiciary.
“I am sad to see that judges are attending tea parties to secure vote for candidates of their likings in the PBC scheduled for December 22,” Asma told a news conference after attending the SCBA’s first executive committee meeting. Asma expressed dissatisfaction with the policies of the federal government, saying “no citizen is satisfied with the government policies and if it has got any policy for the public welfare, it is not being implemented in letter and spirit”.
The bar committee unanimously passed a resolution to refrain the government from amending the Blasphemy Law and granting pardon to Asia Bibi, a prisoner convicted of blasphemy. The bar expressed serious concern over Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’ move to get a presidential pardon for Aasia, while her appeal was pending in a court of law.
They said the government functionaries were seeking amendments or a complete repeal of the Blasphemy Law, which it said, was a shameful effort being made under a foreign agenda. “Under no circumstances, any amendment encouraging or creating any effort to defile the sacred name and personality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) can be brought upon the statute book.”
The committee unanimously warned the government and the members of parliament to refrain from implementing any such proposal. “The SCBA and the legal fraternity will never accept any such pardon and amendment and it will be resisted through every possible effort,” it added.
She said meetings of bar office-holders with the chief justice should be purposeful, as meaningless meetings undermined the value of the lawyers, as well as the independence of the judiciary.
