Chief Justice of Pakistan slams Imran Khan govt for poor governance

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Thursday slammed the Imran Khan government for trying to place Islam in the constitutional dispensation and the governance paradigm, adding that the court is burdened by petty issues in the shape of petitions.

"The capacity to enforce rights of the citizens is not growing [and] as a result the hapless people of this country are facing typical problems and their fundamental rights are being violated with impunity," regretted the CJP.

CJP was speaking at the book launching ceremony of "Reading The Constitution of Pakistan -- Article wise discussion, fair comments on the case, law and the history" when he rebuked the government for not handling the public concerns in the true spirit.

He said small matters like cleaning of roads; lifting of garbage, maintaining parks and open spaces, provision of playgrounds and ensuring construction in accordance with bylaws are being brought up in the court of law.

Furthermore, he severely criticised the government and said that these are prime and basic functions of the government, but these basic issues were not being attended to.

Additionally, he urged the government to take heed of the situation around them and make sure that the constitution is enforced in all facets of public life.

Moreover, Justice Khosa enlisted five issues confronting the nation and said unless these were identified and a solution was discovered, the country would continue to face insecurity. "For this, we have to catch the bull by the horn."

Justice Khosa said they had to decide forever what was the role of the state in Islamic dispensation and where they had to place Islam in the constitutional dispensation and the governance paradigm, The dawn reported.

He said the biggest hurdle that was obstructing development was the mindset since "our loyalty was towards our clan or tribe than the state. Such tendencies are now even creeping up in different institutions including the legal fraternity which often goes on strike every now and then. Likewise, we also have to take care about our economic sovereignty.

Under the constitution, Chief Justice of Pakistan said, the judiciary had been bestowed upon the task to ensure that the constitution was applied and enforced in true spirit.

He showed his disappointment in the Pakistani government and said, "The capacity to enforce rights of the citizens is not growing and as a result, the hapless people of this country are facing typical problems and their fundamental rights are being violated with impunity"

A number of Supreme Court judges, former CJP Asif Saeed Khosa, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan, former chairman of Senate Wasim Sajjad, former law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha and ambassadors of different countries attended the ceremony held at the auditorium of the Supreme Court.