According to the media, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Supreme Court of Pakistan tendered his resignation a day after his plea to halt the ongoing misconduct proceedings at the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) was turned down by the competent authority. Justice Mazahar Naqvi forwarded his resignation to President Arif Alvi stating that it has become very difficult for him to continue his work as a judge in the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the current situation.
The former judge of the Apex court was currently under the scrutiny of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the topmost judicial forum to oversee Judges’ performance and conduct while ensuring accountability of the people who announce verdicts on others and issue certificates of Sadiq and Ameen to the rest of the country. A three-member bench led by Justice Aminuddin Khan was also pitching him to appear in the court and defend serious charges against him leveled by a few citizens but Justice Naqvi was trying to elude justice on one or the other pretext. Previously, Justice Naqvi failed twice in responding to the show cause notices issued by the Supreme Judicial Council in connection with multiple complaints of corruption and professional misconduct against the concerned judge. According to reports, in his constitutional petition, Justice Naqvi contended that the complaints lodged against him at the Supreme Judicial Council were based on mala fide intentions, however, the concerned judge neither responded to show cause notices and submitted proof of his innocence nor cooperated with the Police or judicial body to complete the legal process. Meanwhile, the jury wonders how it determines the mala fide intentions of the complainants and proves the innocence of their colleagues. The nation is astonished at why Pakistani judges do not trust their department, avoid appearing before their colleague judges, and often try to elude the court proceeding/ justice by using their professional knowledge, departmental contacts, and bureaucratic nexus in a bid to foil the system.
Historically, the Pakistani judiciary fell victim to multiple institutional biases including corruption, nepotism, and no accountability of adjudicators and the lower staff that turned the justice delivery into a lucrative business causing serious social, legal, and administrative challenges for the society, as well as the government. Although, there had been rumors in public regarding the trading of justice, the availability of paid witnesses and frontmen of the adjudicators who help facilitate the criminals in bartering bail/pardon in reward of money/ plots or luxury vehicles for the judges and their family members. Although, there have been media reports and table talks regarding alleged corruption in the judiciary, but the former Army Chief General Retired Qamar Javed Bajwa categorically accused the senior judges in his interview of shedding off merit and transparency in their under-trial cases in the fulfillment of mere desires of their spouses, and children through the announcement of tainted verdicts and villainous justice.
In fact, Pakistani judges failed to set high moral ethics and professionalism as they always sought personal agendas, popularity, and monetary benefit instead of protecting their ego and professional sanctity. There is a common trend that judges and generals perceive themselves above the law and often try to elude justice in a fake display of ego and professional superiority. Previously, Justice retired Javed Iqbal, former Chairman NAB did not appear before the inquiry commission in connection with a complaint against him regarding misbehaving with a lady, while General Retired Faiz Hameed refused to cooperate with the inquiry commission on Faizabad Dharna. The same is the case with Justice Naqvi, who trades in blame games and feels betrayed by his colleagues if they don’t meet his expectations.
Pakistani leaders whether in politics, judiciary, military, police, or civil bureaucracy usually have a low profile and reach top positions through nepotism and entreaty instead of merit. They lag courage in setting standards for their successors, hence each institution faces moral decay and professional degradation that seriously spoil the overall functioning of the society. Amid such dire situation, it is of utmost importance that we educate our coming generation in morality and social ethics instead of memorizing books and copycatting Western modernism. So, we can emerge as a strong nation in this world.
