Multi Member Benches Spent Weeks on Political Disputes in the Past : We expect betterment now : Haroon ur Rashid
Tariq Mehmood Khalid Advocate Welcomes Newly Elected Office Bearers
Tazeen Akhtar
Newly elected President of Supreme Court Bar Association, the Apex democratice body of the lawyers of Pakistan, Haroon ur Rashid advocate has emphasized upon hearing of public interest cases on priority basis than waste of time of weeks by multi member benches of SCP on politically motivated matters as the number of public cases seeking their hearing is increasing enourmously.
He expressed his views at a welcome reception on the election of his panel by senior advocate Tariq Mehmood Khalid in Islamabad. Other office bearers of the elected body and members were also present.
Haroon ur Rashid and his panel belongs to The Independent group, commonly known as Asma Jahangir group. The panel secured victory in the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections for the third consecutive year, with Haroonur Rashid elected as the new president and Zahid Aslam Awan elected secretary.
President Bar , in his address, said ” We are not a political party neither we are part of any political group. We have no personal agendas or interests. Our every step is for the lawyers and the country. We are representatives of the lawyers only.”
” Parliament is supereme. Parliamentarians come through their election. Legislation is the domain of the Parliament and not that of the lawyers , but we have reservations on how some constitutional amendments have been passed in previous months, he made clear.
Haroon ur Rashid said , we did not started protests on the way the amendments were passed only for the sake of peace and stability in the country.
” Previously , the the benches of superior court , comprising many members spent weeks hearing the petitions on one section of the amendment. Public litigations were put on back burner.
President SCP Bar stressed on the earliest possible disposal of the hundereds of thousands of lingering cases of public interest.
He urged without addressing the judges of superior judiciary, to give a direction to the system in such a way that the last bad examples are not repeated.
On democracy, he said , whoever wins the election, should be handed over the power to govern the country.
Finally, Haroon assured his legal community to leave no stone unturned for their wellbeing. He said, our relation with government is for the benefite of the lawyers only. The government may consist of any political party but our aim is to extend our cooperation in the interest of our state.
Tariq Mehmood Khalid in his welcome address said , the third consecutive victory of Independent group reflects the deep trust of lawyers community in the newly elected leaders. He said, our aim is only to stand and do whatever we can, for the country. We will continue to support the democracy and rule of law and constitution in Pakistan.
