Senior, capable and honest lawyers are reluctant to join the judiciary as judges due to monetary problems is the common perception, said Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Mushir Alam while addressing a farewell full court reference in the honour of newly retired Justice Athar Saeed.
Alam said shortage of judges in the SHC is a big concern, but appointing capable and honest judges from upper Sindh has become a difficult task. He said the bar associations of other districts of the province always stress appointing SHC judges from their districts, but there are serious issues regarding their honesty and capability. Honest and capable lawyers should step forward to join the judiciary as judges in the national interest because the judges are getting lucrative salaries and perks now just like multinational companies, he added.
Alam said Saeed was appointed after Justice SA Nusrat as an income tax expert, but he performed well as a versatile judge in all fields. Saeed said he was appointed in 2005 by the then chief justice Sabeehuddin Ahmed and was not aware of other fields of law, but under the supervision of learned judges and counsels, he learned much more about other fields of law and was never involved in any kind of misappropriation.
The full court reference was attended by 12 SHC judges, including senior judge Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Advocate General Fatah Malak, Prosecutor General Shahadat Awan, deputy attorney generals, and Karachi Bar Association’s M Aqeel.