An interesting function

THE interesting function, which took place in the Lahore High Court on Thursday, when the Hon’ble Judges and the members of the Bar assembled in the first Bench Room to bid farewell to Hon’ble Mr Justice Abdul Raoof on his retirement, is of importance in a more than conventional sense. At a time when the atmosphere of the province is literally surcharged with the spirit of communalism, it is pleasant to reflect that there is at least one great institution in the province which is free from this spirit, at least one place where men can forget that they are Hindus or Mussalmans or Christians and remember that they are men and Indians, where Hindus and Mussalmans and Christians, whether on the Bench or at the Bar, can not only fraternise with one another but admire and respect one another freely and unreservedly. This, in our opinion, is the outstanding lesson of the function, and so we have deemed fit to make a brief reference to the speeches made on the occasion, after having already paid our own tribute to Mr Justice Raoof. Bakshi Tek Chand, as President of the Bar, was naturally the first to speak. After referring in eloquent terms to the retiring judge’s innate sense of justice, his calm and serene temper and his keen desire to grasp the broad facts of a case and the points of law involved in it, he said: “Your lordship has administered the law honestly and conscientiously, in fear of God and without fear of man, and every litigant, whatever his caste, creed or colour, has got impartial justice at your hands.”