Pakistan Reader# 737, 3 April 2024
Shamini Velayutham
In Focus
On 03 April, according to Dawn, as the Supreme Court (SC) heard the suo motu case pertaining to the allegations of the interference in the judicial affairs, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa said that the “any attack on the judiciary’s independence would not be tolerated” On 01 April, lawyers and civil society members in a joint letter requested the SC to “take cognisance of the matter in its jurisdiction under Article 184(3) of the Constitution as this issue eminently relates to public interest and to the enforcement of fundamental rights”.
On the same day, ex-CJP Tassaduq Hussain Jillani directed “one man commission” and urged Justice Isa to “resolve the issues raised in the letter at the institutional level” Subsequently, SC took suo motu notice of the issue and formed a seven member bench. In the hearing, CJP expressed his displeasure at lawyers for suo motu notice. He said: “The lawyers are saying to take a suo motu [notice]; then they should leave their practice.” Isa asserted that the SC has given its powers to the commission or the government is completely wrong.
CJP Isa said: “According to the Constitution, the SC does not have the authority to have an inquiry commission,” and the federal government has the authority to do so. Former CJP AGP Awann said that the federal government was not ready to “compromise on the independence of the judiciary.” He said: “From here, verdicts were given, JITs were formed and monitoring judges appointed against the law. What happened between 2017 and 2021 is in front of everyone.”
During the hearing, CJP Isa said that SC’s verdict on the case of former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was benefitting to the IHC judges. He further said that IHC judges had the constitutional power to initiate the court proceedings, adding, “I cannot use another court’s powers [to initiate] contempt of court proceedings,” said Isa. (Haseeb Bhatti, “CJP says attack on judiciary’s independence won’t be tolerated, hints at full court for suo motu case,” Dawn, 03 April 2024)