During the devastation of WW-II Winston Churchill said, “Thank God. If the courts are working, nothing can go wrong”. When all defences failed, justice prevailed. To uphold human freedom courts should never surrender.

Unfortunately, in the land of the pure the freedom of judiciary has been repeatedly attacked. Adherence to constitution keeps the nation united. Judges are the custodians of this agreement between the rulers and the ruled. Fearing adventurism ZA Bhutto included Article 6 in the 1973 constitution.

As it carried death penalty, it was expected to be effective, but it wasn’t. Trampling of the document has continued with the connivance of the superior judiciary.

Now that breaks have been applied to retard this force together with building of ‘Fire Walls’ of insulation, nervousness prevails in the corridors of supra-constitutional power holders. Only adherence to the constitution can ensure normalcy and long-term stability in the country.

Civilized societies function only under rule of law. Justice in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan operates under two extreme beliefs; the first being, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ while the second states ‘Justice hurried is justice buried’. Justice can neither be delayed nor buried it must be dispensed expeditiously but after due deliberations. Today the courts are inundated with backlog of cases.

Over 90% of civil litigation emanates from executive abuse and mis-governance, which remains unchecked. In the past, courts were soft when dealing with the bureaucracy and........

© Business Recorder