Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Chaudhry on Saturday said an independent judiciary ensures protection of people’s rights and promotes rule of law.
He expressed these views while inaugurating the meeting of National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) here in the Supreme Court on Saturday.
“Good Governance is impossible without accountability as it determines the level of governance in a country and independent judicial system ensures accountability and better public governance,” he maintained.
He expressed satisfaction on transfer of power through democratic process in the country and said that though conducting election in a free, fair and transparent manner was the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) yet the role of political parties, civil society and media was very important.
Chaudhry said that on the request of the ECP for deputing judicial officers as district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) in relaxation of National Judicial Policy was by the apex court in supreme national interest.
He said, “I also personally met with DROs and ROs to enlighten them about the importance of task and its far reaching impact on the future of our beloved country. They were clearly directed to discharge their responsibilities in accordance with the law to strengthen the perception of people on independence of Judiciary,” he added.
The CJ remarked that after the completion of election process, it was time to review the performance of judicial officers as DROs and ROs to devise strategies for future and necessary information has been requisitioned from DROs, ROs and Secretary ECP which would be discussed in today’s meeting.
In line with the constitutional mandate and to meet the heighten expectations of public, the National Judicial Policy has been formulated and launched which provides strategies to ensure independence of judiciary, eradication of corruption and clearance of backlog, he stated.
