Several members of the Pakistan Bar Council have taken exception to the current judicial activism led by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, ‘prioritising cases in the name of public interest while sweeping the routine matters under the carpet’.
Sources told mediamen that a heated debate caused a rumpus among the executive members during the PBC meeting which had been convened to discuss the impact and consequences of the recent judicial activism as well as the cold shoulder meted out to former judge Dost Muhammad Khan prior to his retirement.
Although a petition challenging the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the Balochistan High Court chief justice and, later, his elevation to the Supreme Court has been dismissed, the issue also came under discussion during the meeting.
The meeting, held on Friday with Executive Committee Chairman Ghulam Shabbir in the chair, lasted for two hours.
The other members, including Azam Nazeer Tarar, Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, Hafeezur Rehman Chaudhry, Muhammad Raheel Kamran Sheikh and PBC Vice-Chairman Kamran Murtaza, also attended the meeting.
A senior lawyer who attended the meeting said that issues such as the treatment meted out to Justice (r) Dost Muhammad and Justice Isa will add fuel to the fire as, according to him, the judiciary was already under criticism from certain quarters for ‘judicial activism’.
Justice (r) Dost Muhammad bid farewell to the Supreme Court last month almost unceremoniously as no formal send-off reference was held in his honour, a regular feature in the judicial history of the country. The chief justice and other judges, however, arranged a tea party to say goodbye to him.
It was unprecedented that a full-court reference was not held in honour of a candid and an outspoken judge.
A full-court reference in honour of retiring judges is customarily held wherein the chief justice, the attorney general for Pakistan, the PBC vice chairman, the Supreme Court Bar Association president and others address the ceremony.
The outspoken judge had always been in favour of accountability of judges and generals like common citizens. Likewise, Justice (r) Khan had always discouraged settlement of political disputes in the court of law.
Similarly, a petition against Justice Qazi’s appointment was fixed after he criticised the role of law-enforcement agencies over the Faizabad sit-in.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan bar councils have already expressed their grave reservations through resolutions on the issue.
In fact, the legal fraternity in Peshawar is already considering arranging a reference in honour of Justice (r) Khan in Peshawar that may lead to further fissures.
Regarding the petition against Justice Isa, a source said it was also a deliberate step that SCBA former president Barrister Ali Zafar appeared in the court and argued against Justice Isa to convey a message to the bars of smaller provinces. He falsely claimed he was appearing on behalf of Lahore High Court Bar Association even though no written instructions or power of attorney had been given to him.
According to the sources, the PBC members were concerned over what they termed judicial activism. “Should we take a stance on the judicial activism or leave it,” members of the meeting discussed. They expressed the apprehension regarding the judicial activism, saying, “We may suffer as we suffered after the retirement of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry”.
According to the sources, members of the PCB could not reach a consensus on the issue of judicial activism and the executive committee resolved to take up all the matters at the general house meeting scheduled for April 21 in Lahore.
“Keeping the seriousness of the matter in view, it has been decided that the same would be placed before the agenda of the PBC general house meeting for consideration on April 21 in Lahore,” said a statement issued by the PBC after the meeting.
The committee also strongly condemned the constant atrocities being committed by Indian security forces against innocent Kashmiris and Israeli forces against Palestinians to suppress their legitimate freedom movements.
