Annual Dinner Address by M. Ilyas Khan

Annual Dinner Address by M. Ilyas Khan President
Sindh High Court Bar Association
November 24, 2006


Chief Guest, My Lord Mr. Sabihuddin Ahmed, Chief Justice of Sindh
The Guest of Honour, Dr. Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi
The Hon’ble Senior Pusine Judge, Mr. Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani
The Hon’ble Companion Judges
The Hon’ble former judges of this Court and the Supreme Court
The learned Attorney General of Pakistan, Mr. Makhdoom Ali Khan
The learned Advocate General of Sindh, Mr. Anwar Mansoor Khan
The learned members of the Sindh Bar Council
The President of the Karachi Bar Association, Mr. Mehmood-ul-Hasan
My fellow lawyers

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Good Evening and Assalam-alaikum

1. I welcome you all. I am deeply grateful for your presence. I particularly welcome the retired and sitting judges from this Court and the Supreme Court and Maulana Dr. Abdul Sattar Edhi.

2. On Tuesday, one of my senior colleagues remarked in passing that this Court was among the finest in the Country. That is an important truth which, obsessed as we tend to be by small failings or difficulties, and faithful as we are to our national characteristic of self-deprecation, tends to be forgotten by members of the court, the profession and the public. When you, Mr. Chief Justice, were sworn in you remarked, with typical confidence and panache, that the court was in good shape. It has, I think, got into even better shape since then. And three or four - perhaps more - of its members would stand out in and adorn any tribunal in the world, no matter how illustrious.

3. I once heard an orchestral conductor attempting to demonstrate his vital role. He said: "When I stop conducting, they will stop playing". He did stop conducting, but they kept on playing in perfect harmony for a considerable time. A court, too, could operate for quite some time without leadership, but eventually it must be supplied. It need not, however, be blatant. You, the Hon’ble Chief Justice, constantly take many steps, usually not widely known, to ensure the health of this Court. You have ensured the happy co-existence of personalities with diverse and sometimes conflicting traits and you have sought to ease their problems. I am particularly grateful for all the assistance, guidance and kindness that you have shown to me and my Committee during our tenure in office. I must also thank each and every Companion Judge - and I think other members of the Bar will join me warmly in this - for the almost infinite pains they take, over many hours per week, to ensure that this Court moves as smoothly as possible through its large workload no matter what last minute crises spring up. This, in my very humble opinion, is because, keeping in view the work load and the litigation which is being initiated in the High Court of Sindh, the number of judges is far less than what is required. Furthermore invariably undue delay is caused for appointment of new judges as a result of which the workload keep on increasing. Needless to say, the Honorable Judges are over burdened and I can only imagine, what Your Lordships families would have to say about your absence from domestic duties.

At this juncture, I would like to make a plea to My Lord the Hon’ble Chief Justice to consider, granting access to lawyers from the right side and the left side of the High Court Building. Such an initiative by Your Lordship would contribute towards reducing the burden of commuting on lawyers.


4. For more than half a century, Abdul Sattar Edhi, has been living proof that a determined individual can mobilize others to alleviate misery and, in so doing, knit together the social fabric of a nation. Firmly refusing financial support from government and formal religious organizations, this self-effacing man with a primary-school education has almost single-handedly created one of the largest and most successful health and welfare networks in Asia. Whether he is counseling a battered wife, rescuing an accident victim, feeding a poor child, sheltering a homeless family or washing an unidentified and unclaimed corpse before burial, Edhi and Bilquis, his wife of 40 years, help thousands of Pakistanis each day.

5. Starting in 1951 with a tiny dispensary in Karachi's poor Mithadar neighborhood, Edhi has steadily built up a nationwide organization of welfare institutions. Mr. Edhi has also personally delivered medicines, food and clothing to refugees in Bosnia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. Whether it is an earthquake in Indonesia, Lebanon, Iran or Pakistan, Mr. Edhi and his team have assisted the distressed. He and the drivers of his ambulances have saved lives in floods, train wrecks, civil conflicts and traffic accidents. After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, he donated $100,000 to Pakistanis in New York who lost their jobs in the subsequent economic crisis. In the 1980's, when Pakistan's then-President Zia ul-Haq sent him a check for Rs.500,000 rupees (then more than $30,000), Edhi sent it back. Last year, the Italian government offered him a million-dollar donation. He refused. "Governments set conditions that I cannot accept," he says, declining to give any details.

In 1986 he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, sometimes referred to as "the Asian Nobel Prize." In 2000, he was awarded the International Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood. In 2002, he joined former us President Bill Clinton and others as an honorary board member of the newly founded Daniel Pearl Foundation, created in honor of the murdered Wall Street Journal correspondent.

We are indeed honoured to have you here amongst us today Sir.

6. We have deviated from the usual practice at this Dinner by inviting a Guest of Honour. A Guest of Honor who has an impeccable track record and who is respected the world over. I will also deviate from the usual practice of boring all of you by going on and on with what we have achieved. What this present committee has achieved is known to all of you – supporters and critics alike. I, have also prepared a Newsletter, which has been distributed to all of you tonight. I would, however, like to highlight that the biggest achievement of the present committee has been the grant of sub-lease in the Gulistan-e-Sharaf Faridi Project and the holding of the Judicial Conference in May this year.

7. As you are all aware, sub-leases in the Gulistan-e-Sharaf Faridi Project were not being granted because of certain governmental hindrances. The whole Project was in a state of anesthesia for a couple of years because of this reason. We left no stone unturned in resolving the dispute and successfully argued in Court that the grant of NOC’s by the Chief Minister permission was not a pre-requisite to the grant of sub-leases. I can very proudly tonight list the grant of the sub-lease as a major achievement of ours in the interest of the lawyers.

8. The Judicial Conference was an idea that was suggested by many but implemented by none. We turned it into a reality. It was an extremely successful event, and I feel, it contributed positively to the exchange of ideas and opinions amongst the legal fraternity.

9. There was a lot more that we wanted to do but were unable because of the short tenure of one year. Tonight, I request that it be considered that the tenure of a Committee be enhanced from one to two years. I am sure that my predecessors will agree with me on this suggestion.

10. At this point, I would like to, with a very heavy heart, highlight the indifference and lack of empathy by the Government towards the welfare and development of the law in the province of Sindh.
11. While Bajaur and Baluchistan are ironically “bombed into the stone age” and well over due legislation is only enacted now in an apparent attempt to woo our so called western allies, the President and the Prime Minister of this country had no time to give to the lawyers of Sindh. While Rs. 10 crores and Rs. 5 crores were granted to the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Lahore High Court, respectively, not even Rs. One then wonders why provincial tensions exist? Should it not be for Sindh Is this the aim of the Government to treat all provinces on an equal playing field? Despite repeated requests and reminders, neither the President nor the Prime Minister, took out time to meet us and discuss with us the problems that the legal fraternity faced. We wanted to set up a welfare centre for our aged and deceased colleagues That was the first press statement that I made on assuming the office and sought the Government’s help for its formation, unfortunately, they did not think it important enough to spare time. I would fail in my duty if I do not record my appreciation of Mr. Mustafa Kamal, the Nazim of Karachi and Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ibad, the Governor of Sindh, for the support they have shown to this Bar Association.

12. During my tenure as President of the Bar, I have noticed one very unfortunate practice. This is the practice of criticizing for the sake of criticism. Each time my committee and I embarked upon a venture which we in our honest opinion thought was for the betterment of the Bar, we were pulled back by our own colleagues. While we encouraged healthy criticism, we realized that most of the criticism which was directed towards us was without foundation and was only made for the purpose of slinging mud.

13. The recent unfortunate events in the elections of the Supreme Court Bar Association are also sad examples and highlight the division that has occurred amongst the lawyer community. I was recently reading an article written by my colleague, Mr. Javaid Siddiqui, in which he has written that the purposes of an Association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; to promote reform in the law; to facilitate the administration of justice; to elevate the standard of integrity, honour, professional skill and courtesy in the Association; to uphold the Constitution and to foster a spirit of collegiality among the members of the Association. It made me think how correct he was in his observation and how, we seem to have forgotten the aims of an Association highlighted by him. Tonight, I make an earnest appeal to all my colleagues to break away from these shackles of division and pull the chariot of law together with all their strength.

14. At the end, I would like to thank all my Committee members, . Thanks are due to all colleagues, the Hon’ble members of the Bench, the officers and staff of the Sindh High Court and all you ladies and gentlemen for the love and support you have shown to us this year.

15. May Allah bless you all.