Top judge says his stint as CJP a test, results to come after retirement

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar emphasized on Saturday that it is the responsibility of the judiciary to ensure protection of fundamental rights of the people.  

Speaking at the fourth convocation of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) here, he said: “How far I succeeded in fulfilling the promises I made as chief justice leave to the nation [to judge].”

“I made all-out efforts to resolve public issues. My intention was based on honesty,” he said. “This is a test whose results will come after my retirement,” he added.

Justice Nisar said it’s not the duty of the judiciary to start running hospitals, nor was it his job to visit them. “It was our responsibility to intervene wherever mistakes were,” he explained.

“It’s our duty to protect fundamental rights of the people.”

He stressed the need for focusing all resources on provision of education, adding that the secret of the development of any country or society is to get education.

The chief justice lamented that every newborn in the country was in debt, while every citizen was under a Rs1,26,000 debt. “Our resources are fast depleting while the country’s population is increasing,” he said, adding that water graph has been dropping day by day.

He emphasized the need for paying attention to resolving the issues facing the people and explained he took suo motu notice of the issues concerning people.

He said mineral water companies were using seven billion gallons of water for free. For the first time, he added, he issued directives for imposing tax on the use of water by them.