LAHORE: Senior judge of Supreme Court, Justice Qazi Faez Isa has underlined the need to criticize anyone on merit, and not the entire institution. “Condemn a general by name who breaches the law, but do not denounce Pakistan’s armed forces; disagree with me as a judge, but do not condemn the Supreme Court.” he said.
Speaking at the 4th Asma Jehangir conference here on Saturday, Justice Qazi Faez Isa said “I welcome criticism but do not criticize institutions.”
He said “in Pakistan we have come to assume what constitutes as an institution. The armed forces is not an institution but part of the executive. The judiciary is an institution and the legislature is an institution.”
He said “we should go back and discover our old truths which have done us good,” adding that “if we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable”.
During the course of his speech, Justice Qazi Faez Isa also discussed the ‘politics of plots’, terming it very interesting.
Honourable Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Guest of #AJCONF shares how the plot game stated in Pakistan ???????? @voicepkdotnet @Asma_Jahangir#AJCONF22 #Voicepk #AJCON22 #AGHS #lahore #AJCONF
#عمران_خان_ہماری_ریڈ_لائن pic.twitter.com/YiTJuQYc5G— Shah Kashf (@shahoflhr) October 22, 2022
He said “I have a burden you all do not have. I have to uphold the constitution of Pakistan,” adding that Pakistan needs democracy. He said “you remove democracy from Pakistan; you stab it in the back. You destroy it. You are the enemy of the people, you are the enemy of the state, and that is what Article 6 says.”
He said “as a law, history, and politics student, I’ll add Justice Muhammad Munir, Justice Anwar ul Haq, Justice Irshad Hassan Khan, General Ayub, General Zia, and General Musharraf to the ‘Banned Persons’ list.”