Two senior Supreme Court judges, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, on Thursday said Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial’s recent remarks about the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) had left them “dismayed.”
In a letter addressed to members of the JCP, including the CJP; the attorney general for Pakistan; the federal law minister; the SCBA; and the Pakistan Bar Council, the two judges said the CJP’s speech at the opening ceremony of the new judicial year had sought to justify the apex court’s decision, respond to criticism of its judgments, and unilaterally speak on behalf of the Supreme Court. “The Supreme Court does not comprise of the CJP alone, it includes all the judges of the Supreme Court,” they said, describing the comments on pending cases as “disconcerting.”
Terming the CJP’s remarks about the SCBA and its past and current office-bearers as “uncalled for and disparaging,” the letter noted he had accused them of political partisanship for requesting a full court bench. “The Supreme Court having declined their request, the CJP could not disparage and attribute motives to them,” it said, adding he had then sought to justify the ruling by saying the request had no legal ground. “The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan requires the Supreme Court to give decisions,” it stressed.
The most “inappropriate and unreasonable” part of the speech, per the letter, was the discussion on the working and decisions of the JCP. “The CJP said the candidates proposed by the Chairman of the JCP were not approved and blamed the representatives of the federal government … and also expressed his displeasure. Under no circumstances should the chairman of the JCP say what was said,” it emphasized.
The judges noted that as the chairman of the JCP, the CJP must abide by its decisions more than anyone else. “It did not behoove the CJP to attack its members, and to do so publicly only because they did not support his candidates,” they wrote, adding his remarks were also contrary to the record. “It is not correct that his candidates were supported by four members of the JCP, which the (unauthorized) release of the audio-recording of the meeting confirms,” they said, noting Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany had also not support all the candidates.
“It was further incorrect to categorize the said meeting as a pre-scheduled meeting, and that it was adjourned,” the letter stressed. “When the chairman did not succeed in achieving his objective, he took the majority decision of the JCP as a personal affront and walked out of the meeting,” it added.
Emphasizing that all members of the JCP were equal, the judges said the only additional responsibility of the CJP was to also act as its chairman. “The Constitution stipulates that the JCP by majority of its total membership shall nominate judges,” they said, noting the July 28 meeting of the body had not approved the five candidates approved by the chairman/CJP. “Though the CJP stated that constitutional institutions should not be undermined, violated or attacked, he himself undermined the JCP by refusing to accept the decision of the JCP,” they said. “Incidentally, the undersigned have been in a minority in a number of other meetings of the JCP yet never once delivered a public address rebuking of casting aspersions on any member of the JCP,” they added.
The letter also questioned the CJP’s praise for the number of cases decided by the Supreme Court in the past year, noting over a third of the apex court lies vacant, and a full court could have decided even more cases. “We have repeatedly called upon the chairman of the JCP to convene a meeting of the JCP (both before and after the notified summer vacations) to enable making of nominations to the Supreme Court,” it said. “To stress the urgency, we had stated that not filling the vacancies is reckless disregard of a constitutional duty. But all to no avail. The Supreme Court cannot be placed in suspended animation till such time that members, to use the words of the CJP, ‘support the candidates proposed by the chairman’,” it added.
“We were seated on the right and left of the CJP as he read out his address,” the judges said, adding that to maintain the decorum of the ceremony, they had remained quiet. However, they noted, following reporting of the CJP’s address in media, they had been compelled to clarify so their silence would not be misconstrued as consent. Justice Isa and Justice Masood also provided copies of the letter to the acting registrar of the Supreme Court and acting secretary of the JCP, adding they should release it and its Urdu translation to media.