Rule of law to be ensured on references about judges: Dr Firdous

Lahore : Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Monday said the government fully believed in the rule of law and the cabinet reaffirmed to ensure implementation of law in matter of references about judges.

Addressing a press conference here regarding the decisions of federal cabinet, she said the law minister briefed the cabinet about the reasons for filing references about the judges of superior judiciary.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who chaired the meeting, observed that no one was above the law as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) came into power on the election slogan of “not two but one Pakistan”, she added

The cabinet was of the view that if any citizen in an institution violated the Constitution, the law would take its course,she said.

She said the government wanted to change the rotten system. Imran Khan was the saviour of the nation and he had got mandate to ensure the rule of law. “It can never  happen that the prime minister becomes part of the status quo and lets the system rot.”

Firdous said the head of Asset Recovery Unit, Shehzad Akbar, had received a complaint about the assets of judges and after verification he sent a summary to the prime minister, who forwarded it to the president for his approval of the reference.

The assets, she said, were verified by the land registry in the United Kingdom and the documents were endorsed by Pakistan’s
High Commission there as well.

The special assistant said the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) would decide whether the information provided to it was credible. “As the judiciary is looking into the complaint, it can’t be considered an attack on judiciary.”

She said there could not be a sacred cow in any institution. The hoped that the PTI leadership because of its honesty and sincerity would bring reforms in the institutions. She advised the media to let Supreme Judicial Council take its decision and avoid discussion on the references till then.

The posting of Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan, District and Sessions Judge as Judge Special Court (Anti-Terrorist-I) Islamabad was also approved.

To a question about protest of opposition parties and lawyers, she said the government did not want chaos. The lawyers were the custodians of law, however, the bar councils were politicized and the political parties had their wings of lawyers, she added.