Urges CJ not to SJC, cancel July 28 meeting scheduled during vacations
\n ISLAMABAD
\nSenior most Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa has asked Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandia not to ridicule the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan (JCP) and requested for postponement of the council\u2019s July 28 meeting to consider the appointment of five new judges to the Supreme Court.
\nIn a letter to the highest judicial body, Justice Isa \u2013\u2013 who is on annual leave \u2013\u2013 said that he received a WhatsApp message from the Additional Registrar of the SC informing him that Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial has \u201cconvened a meeting of the JCP on 28 July 2022 to consider appointing five judges to the SC.\u201d
\nThe judge claimed that when he availed annual leaves, no meeting of the JCP was scheduled but then suddenly two meetings were called and now a third had been scheduled. \u201cAs soon as I left Pakistan, the CJ decided to hold two meetings of the JCP to consider appointments to the Sindh and Lahore High Courts, and now a third unscheduled meeting of the JCP is to be held during the summer vacations of the SC.\u201d
\nJustice Isa said that during June 28 meeting of the JCP, everyone except CJP Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan had voted to postpone the meeting and the chief justice can not reject the JCP decision.
\n\u201cIn calling another meeting during notified-gazetted vacations, when some members are on annual leave, and at a time when the Attorney-General is recovering from the second surgery he has recently undergone, is unjustified.\u201d
\nJustice Isa said that the chief justice\u2019s decision to hold JCP meeting when he is not in country suggests that the chief justice \u201cdoes not want him to be physically participate, which is illegal and unconstitutional.\u201d
\nIt has happened for the first time that \u201cthe senior puisne judge had been excluded from chairing either the antecedents or the competence gauging committees of the JCP,\u201d Justice Isa said.
\nHe alleged that the chief justice wants to appoint five judges, which is more than a third of the SC, \u201cduring notified-gazetted vacations and by avoiding the participation of all members.\u201d
\nChief Justice Bandial also wants to fill-in an \u2018anticipated\u2019 vacancy which will occur on the retirement of Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, he said adding that it is not permissible under Article 175(8) of the Constitution. Justice Shah is being called upon unconstitutionally to choose his own successor, maintained Justice Isa. \u201cPakistan is not a kingdom of Yore in which kings decided their successors.\u201d
\nJustice Isa, in his letter, accused CJ Bandial of discrimination as, he claimed, the CJP arbitrarily decided to consider three judges from Peshawar, six from Lahore and 12 from Sindh. \u201cThis does not stand to reason because the Lahore High Court is a much larger than the High Court of Sindh; neither the same number were considered nor of the same proportional ratio.\u201d
\nHe said that the chief justice also discriminated against Chief Justice and Judges from the Balochistan High Court and the Chief Justice and Judges from the Islamabad High Court. All appointments to the apex court must be made in accordance with the Constitution, on the basis of predetermined and non-discriminatory criteria. And, above all without any impression of favoritism, Justice Isa maintained.
\nThe judge said that before writing this letter, he \u201cpenned a note to the CJ requesting him not to act arbitrarily and reminded him that arrogance (takabbur) and ego (anaa) is abhorred by Almighty Allah, but \u201csince the CJ did not respond I am compelled to write to all of you as this is the dictate my office and of the oath taken by me to defend and protect the Constitution.\u201d
\nThe chief justice wants to rush through a most delicate matter in a very questionable manner \u2013\u2013 Justice Isa Justice Isa said that the chief justice wants to rush through a most delicate matter in a very questionable manner as he wants 2,347 pages of documents to be examined in a week. \u201cThe CJ cannot blitzkrieg due process and sufficient notice.\u201d
\nHe requested that JCP meeting should be postponed. \u201cInstead, let us first meet to consider how to proceed further in the matter. And, if Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts are to be bypassed then to first develop for consideration of the JCP criteria for nominees, since the then senior most judge failed to accomplish the task assigned to him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Urges CJ not to SJC, cancel July 28 meeting scheduled during vacations ISLAMABAD Senior most Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa has asked Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandia not to ridicule the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan (JCP) and requested for postponement of the council\u2019s July 28 meeting to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-273692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n