Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday blamed what he said was the “lack of constitutional governance” in the country that was responsible for elite capture over the rule of law or the Constitution.
Addressing the Karachi Bar Association (KBA), he said: “I had to write in many high court orders that there is no rule of law or Constitution in the country; there is elite capture,” he said, adding that the reason for the situation was the “lack of constitutional governance.”
He said that the history of the country’s judiciary was “not something to be proud of for me”.
The judge said that his generation had passed its time, caused whatever destruction it could to the country, and should never be afraid to admit it, adding that they could not blame anyone else and that this had kept happening throughout the country’s history.
Justice Minallah said that, as per the oath, judges had to impartially decide cases in accordance with the law and defend the Constitution without fear or favour, adding that the judiciary at all levels was bound to the oath and answerable to God and the people.
He explained that if there was a lack of constitutional governance in the country and he, as a judge, did nothing about it, he would not only be violating the Constitution but also his oath.
“Unfortunately, we are taught distorted history, and no one tells us the truth. Our generation did whatever it could do; the most we can do now is to hand over the baton to you and at least tell you the truth.
“The societies in which the truth is eliminated and truth ceases to be spoken are destroyed.”
Justice Minallah further said that no lesson had been learnt from history.
“The root of the country’s split in 1971 was laid down in the dissolution of the constituent assembly by the civil-military bureaucracy,” he said, pointing out that while there had always been free and independent judges in the country’s history, “the judiciary has never played the role that it ought to have.”
He said the Constitution was the expression of the people’s will and premised on the people’s right to rule through elected representatives, adding that it demanded that no institution or political officeholder would engage in political engineering and that any representatives would be elected through fair and transparent means.
“Unfortunately, that too has remained a dream for our history.”
More to follow.
