Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan on Thursday observed that the judges had taken oath to protect the Constitution and if anyone tried to derail the democratic system, the entire judiciary would oppose it.
The CJ made the observation during the hearing into five identical petitions of the Education Services and the City School System, challenging suspension of their registration by the respective boards over non-implementation of an earlier order of the high court regarding fee concession to siblings studying in same school.
Justice Dost Mohammad observed that the Constitution also included the parliamentary form of the government due to which it was binding on the judiciary to safeguard the system.
“Due to the clear stand taken by the judiciary to protect the Constitution, nobody has now the courage even to make a crude attempt against democracy and constitutional institutions, including the judiciary,” the chief justice said while heading a two-member bench whose other member was Justice Irshad Qaiser.
He observed that if a need arose, the judges would even sit under trees and deliver judgments to protect the democratic parliamentary system.
At the very outset of the proceedings, additional advocate general Naveed Akhtar informed the bench that the provincial assembly would assemble on Friday and it was expected that a proposed bill regarding education regulatory authority would be tabled before it.He added that the bill, which was aimed at setting up a regulatory authority to register, regulate and look after the affairs of private educational institutions, was presently with a select committee.
The chief justice observed that presently instead of legislation the provincial assembly had been consuming its energies against a person, who had gathered people in Islamabad and was under discussion everywhere.
He added that there would be drawbacks in the parliamentary system but it was a sort of a filter and with the passage of time, neat and clean persons would emerge for representing the people.
Mudassir Amir, lawyer for petitioners, contended that senior lawyer Athar Minallah was unwell due to which he could not turn up.
Similarly, the court was informed that another senior advocate Abdul Lateef Afridi was busy in attending a protest meeting near the high court by the tribal people against killing of 18 persons by the security forces.
Shakeela Khan, lawyer for Peshawar Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, said the chairman of the board was only implementing the existing law on the subject as well as earlier order of the high court when he suspended licences of these schools.The bench observed that the existing law was not comprehensive and it had several flaws.
The court then decided to adjourn hearing of the cases for which the next date would be fixed afterward.
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