Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Tuesday said that he and other Supreme Court judges are devoid of any political inclination. "Let me make it clear that we have no political agenda at all," said the Chief Justice while hearing a suo motu case regarding hike in prices of medicines. "I was the smallest lawyer [in stature] of the country," Justice Nisar said, adding, "Even now I am the smallest judge."
He said that the time has arrived to show that something is being done and that he simply wants that people should be given their rights. "I do not want to even touch political cases," said the Chief Justice, who has faced criticism from the ruling PML-N over using, what the party calls, "unbecoming language" in his rulings.
"In the pensions case, we [the bench] got the pension increased from Rs 1,300 to Rs 8,000 for widows so that they can at least buy a painkiller for themselves," the Chief Justice said. The CJP said that the court does not want anyone to bear any loss, reiterating that the court does not have any political motive. "If anyone wants to test us, now it is the time."
Last week, a day after handing down a judgment barring ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from heading the PML-N, the Chief Justice had provided the justification for his remarks made earlier that he was a fighter and would continue to fight. Without quoting the name of any politician, the Chief Justice had said that someone had objected to his remarks and clarified that he was fighting against social menace.
He had conceded that the superior judiciary had detracted from its direction but "it is never too late to set the direction right." He also said that it was a fault on the part of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) - headed by the Chief Justice himself - for the delay in making decision on the references against judges of the superior courts.