Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan of the Supreme Court said on Monday that the role of a judge in any society was pivotal to keep balance and is similar that of a tight-rope artist.
He expressed these views in a one-week orientation course on “Sessions trial and appreciation of evidence” for additional district and sessions judges from all over Pakistan, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA).
He said, “This is not the end of the world. While sitting on the bench, the judges should not forget their prominent role in the society. They should realise that their role is pivotal to put the society on the path to peace and progress.”
He shared the incident of Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) and the destitute old lady who used to live on the outskirts of Madina.
“One day, Imam saw that she was about to fall and he hurried to help her from falling on the ground. After the incident, a historical interaction took place between the two,” he said.
The moral of that interaction could be summed up as, if an individual like the old lady falls or makes a mistake, it is the fall or decline of one particular individual, but when the judge falls into error, it is the fall or decline of the entire society.
“This much importance, this much prominence has been accorded to a judge in our religion and in its jurisprudence. We must reflect on it and act accordingly”, he said.
On the occasion, he also quoted a few verses from the Holy Quran and widened the vision of the course participants with their logical interpretation and explanation.
He said the Holy Quran was the fountain of justice and it was all-inclusive and all-encompassing.
“It contains all areas of justice and social justice. It focuses on family, which forms the basis of social justice and how one should behave and handle family matters. Everything is in the Holy Quran, we just have to read and learn from this book of Allah. Once we learn to treat people around us fairly, justly and truthfully in accordance with this book, our task would be accomplished”.
Hashim Abro, a spokesman of the academy, said that eighteen additional district and sessions judges were undergoing this one-week training in the Academy and two of them were female judges from KPK district judiciary.
