<p>Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, who recently cautioned against "undue interference" in the functioning of Pakistan's state institutions, was today sworn in as the country's new chief justice.<br /><br /></p>.<p>63-year-old Mulk, Supreme Court's senior most judge, took over from his predecessor Tassaduq Hussain Jillani.<br /><br />President Mamnoon Hussain sworn in the new chief justice at a ceremony attended by Prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his cabinet members and other senior officials.<br /><br />It would be interesting to see Mulk's ties with the government.<br /><br />Over the years, Pakistan's judiciary has been politically active after ex-chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was sacked by the then-military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in 2007, and was later reinstated in 2009 after a nation-wide protest by lawyers.<br /><br />Chaudhry delivered judgement in several cases against the government and disqualified the then-Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on charges of contempt of court.<br /><br />After Chaudhry demitted office December 2013, his successor Jillani too laid emphasis on cases of public interest and individual complainants.<br /><br />In his farewell speech for Jillani on Thursday, Mulk indicated an end to years of judicial activism that had pitted the government, military and judiciary against each other.<br /><br />"The task of the judiciary is a dispassionate reading of the law unaffected by personal biases," a transcript of his speech on the Supreme Court's website said.<br /><br />"Considerations of Constitution and the laws alone should guide the judge and personal sense of justice must be strictly curtailed," it said.<br /><br />He also said that state institution should not unnecessarily encroach in each others' domain.<br /><br />"Institutions need to work in harmony with one another and it is their constitutional duty to desist from undue interference in the functioning of other pillars of state.<br /><br /> In case, institutions do not respect the trichotomy of power, we fear that the rights of the people will be violated and disregarded," he said.</p>
<p>Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, who recently cautioned against "undue interference" in the functioning of Pakistan's state institutions, was today sworn in as the country's new chief justice.<br /><br /></p>.<p>63-year-old Mulk, Supreme Court's senior most judge, took over from his predecessor Tassaduq Hussain Jillani.<br /><br />President Mamnoon Hussain sworn in the new chief justice at a ceremony attended by Prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his cabinet members and other senior officials.<br /><br />It would be interesting to see Mulk's ties with the government.<br /><br />Over the years, Pakistan's judiciary has been politically active after ex-chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was sacked by the then-military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in 2007, and was later reinstated in 2009 after a nation-wide protest by lawyers.<br /><br />Chaudhry delivered judgement in several cases against the government and disqualified the then-Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on charges of contempt of court.<br /><br />After Chaudhry demitted office December 2013, his successor Jillani too laid emphasis on cases of public interest and individual complainants.<br /><br />In his farewell speech for Jillani on Thursday, Mulk indicated an end to years of judicial activism that had pitted the government, military and judiciary against each other.<br /><br />"The task of the judiciary is a dispassionate reading of the law unaffected by personal biases," a transcript of his speech on the Supreme Court's website said.<br /><br />"Considerations of Constitution and the laws alone should guide the judge and personal sense of justice must be strictly curtailed," it said.<br /><br />He also said that state institution should not unnecessarily encroach in each others' domain.<br /><br />"Institutions need to work in harmony with one another and it is their constitutional duty to desist from undue interference in the functioning of other pillars of state.<br /><br /> In case, institutions do not respect the trichotomy of power, we fear that the rights of the people will be violated and disregarded," he said.</p>