CJ not to disappoint people
CJ not to disappoint people
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has conveyed to angels who became friendly with him after March 9 his extreme happiness over his historic restoration to office and pledged that he will not disappoint the people of Pakistan.
"I am really thankful to Almighty Allah for vindicating me and my honour and reputation," an angel quoted the chief justice as saying, adding that as the restored chief justice of Pakistan, he holds no grievance against anybody. The CJ’s official residence was thronged by media persons, lawyers and others on Friday but Justice Iftikhar did not give any comment to journalists and remained composed despite their repeated requests to offer, at least, a few remarks.
However, like the recent past, he opened up his heart only before some of the angels, who incidentally are known to this correspondent too. Luckily, these angels share with The News what is otherwise a secret between them and the chief justice.
Justice Iftikhar might be upset with this sharing of secrets – that too with a journalist – but the angels’ code of ethics is different from that of human beings. However, one thing is clear that they don’t tell a lie and also do not distort facts.
According to the angel, he never saw the chief justice as happy as he was on Friday. The chief justice, the angel said, was thankful to the media, the lawyers and the whole nation who had wholeheartedly supported him during the most testing times of his life.
"I can never forget the love shown to me by the people of this country," the chief justice was quoted as saying by the angel, who in a lighter vein said that by the way Justice Iftikhar also uttered some good words about this correspondent.
When the chief justice heard the Supreme Court’s short order, he told the angel, sitting next to him, though not invisible: "Don’t you remember that from the day one, I have been telling you that my hands are clean; I am innocent; and I did not do anything wrong."
Regarding the independence of judiciary, the chief justice was quoted as saying that he had always been pledging and emphasising it for the future of Pakistan. The angel said that the chief justice, while referring to the historic decision handed down by the 13-member full court, said with great pride, "Who says we don’t have an independent judiciary?"
Justice Iftikhar promised that he would not compromise on the question of the independence of judiciary.
The angel was requested to seek an on-the-record interview of the chief justice with The News but he came up with a polite "no", arguing that Justice Iftikhar was of the view that being a judge it would not be appropriate for him to give interviews. "I was confined before and for being a judge, I will remain so," the chief justice told the angel, who though said Justice Iftikhar wanted to share with the whole world his moments of pleasure but restricted himself for the sake of the decorum of his office.
The chief justice asked the angel who visited The News office after meeting Justice Iftikhar as to how were the people reacting to the court’s decision. "In an exceptional way," he was told. The angel told the chief justice that the people were distributing sweets, exchanging best wishes and foreseeing a great future for Pakistan.