In a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa claimed that the CJP abused his authority by issuing two press releases and a secret recording of the July 28 meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, thereby undermining the credibility and authority of the serving judges of the high court, according to 24NewsHD TV.
Yesterday, the Puisne judge issued a letter to CJP Bandial imploring him to reinstate the names of the three high court justices who were rejected by the JCP at its last meeting on July 28. Today, the contents of his letter were revealed.
Justice Isa wrote that CJP Bandial abused his authority by releasing a recording of the July 28 JCP meeting and two news releases through his PR representative. According to him, it was apparent from the recording that everything he had said was true.
He stated that the secretary of the judicial panel has not even drafted the meeting’s minutes. He noted that it appears the secretary is unwilling to embrace the fake position of the JCP chairman.
Justice Isa wrote that the JCP members were unaware of the meeting’s covert recording. If they had known, they would have spoken more carefully.
The letter states: “The Honorable Chairman did not inform the members of the JCP that the meeting was being covertly recorded and did not obtain authorization from the JCP before releasing the meeting’s audio recording. If it had been informed that the meeting was being recorded and that the recording could be made public, the honorable members may have expressed their opinions with more restraint. Unfortunately, the release of the recording by the head of the Judiciary has compromised the credibility and authority of serving High Court judges.
“The Honorable Chairman further contradicts himself in the note by stating that the JCP meeting will reconvene on October 24, 2022.” The law and common sense do not permit the resumption of a meeting after a gap of approximately three months. In any case, the makeup of the JCP has changed since the previous meeting. How can it be said that the 28 July 2022 meeting will resume on 24 October 2022 with a different agenda? On the agenda for the 28 July meeting were four junior judges and the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court; however, on the agenda for the 24 October meeting are just three young judges and the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court.
“Proposing three junior judges whose nominations have already been rejected disparages and disdains the Honorable Members and undermines the credibility and integrity of the JCP. The letter concludes, “Let the Honorable Chairman not forget that he and we all hold our separate posts because the people of Pakistan rose up against dictatorship; they did not replace the tyrannical authority of a man in military with that of a man in robes.”
The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Bandial, has convened a meeting of the Judicial Commission for tomorrow in order to evaluate the nomination of four judges for elevation to the Supreme Court.
Included among the judges suggested for promotion are Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Lahore High Court Justice Shahid Waheed, and Sindh High Court Justices Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Shafiq Siddiqui.
In addition to Justice Isa, members of the legal community, including the Pakistan Bar Council, the Supreme Court Bar Association, and the Sindh Bar Council, have voiced their opposition to the CJP’s selections.
