ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain praised Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Monday for taking a “historic stand” while dealing with cases related to minority religious communities in the country.
The chief justice is due to retire tomorrow after spending more than two years in the highest judicial office of his country. He will be replaced by Justice Umar Ata Bandial who will be taking oath on February 2.
“CJP Justice Gulzar Ahmed will be retiring today,” Hussain said in a Twitter post. “He took a historic stand on the worship places of religious minorities which significantly increased his honor and prestige.”
He maintained the outgoing chief justice “supported the minorities” by “taking independent decisions” at a time when judiciary in neighboring India “looked helpless in front of [religious] extremists.”
Last year in August, the chief justice told a seminar that the country’s constitution guaranteed rights to minority communities that would be protected at all cost.
He said that he took suo motu notices after desecration of temples in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and south Punjab, adding that “Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras and churches are as important and sacred to me as my own religious places.”
The information minister also noted that five Supreme Court judges were scheduled to retire in the ongoing year, saying the country’s parliament should consider a constitutional amendment for the appointment of new judges to make the process as free and transparent as possible.
Hussain, who is a lawyer by profession, recently raised concern about “rapidly declining reputation” of the country’s judiciary, saying the new chief justice would have to face the challenge.