Judges can be corrupt too

I am appalled by the hypocrisy of judges who sneer at corruption, but indulge in accepting illegal gifts themselves.

Who should we look up to for justice?

This is not something I came up with - it is the title of Ansar Abbasi's column in Jang, the Urdu daily.

I used it in this post because I could not think of a better line to express my feelings.

I read in the newspaper that 16 judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan have accepted plots located in expensive areas of Islamabad.

The chief justice, however, didn't accept one. This wouldn't have been a problem if some judges hadn't accepted two plots, including Justice Khaleel-ur-Rehman Ramday and Justice Javaid Iqbal, mostly known to people for their observations in cases involving the government.

Civil servants are allowed by law to accept one plot, but accepting two is illegal. Uptil this point you might have had the impression that I have a problem with the judges accepting two plots. I don’t.

My problem is with the hypocrisy. The judges should either not pass comments in the court room when they hear of members of the government doing something wrong, or they themselves shouldn’t indulge in immoral and illegal activities.

I personally appreciate that the CJ didn’t accept a plot but he is just one person among many. This is not just about him; this is about judiciary as an institution. If our judges are going to indulge in illegal activities, who should we look up to for justice?