PBC declines to restore former CJ’s licence

Former enrolment committees had accepted retired judges’ applications

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has refused to restore the licence of former chief justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali.

The PBC enrolment committee, led by the apex court’s most senior judge, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, declined the former CJP’s plea for the restoration of his name on the ‘Roll of the Advocates of the Supreme Court’. Lawyers Syed Qalbi Hassan and Akhtar Hussain are the enrolment committee’s members.



Justice Jamali, who retired as the top judge of the country last year, had requested the regulatory body of lawyers for the restoration of his name on the advocates’ roll under Section 23 of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973. The section says the PBC shall prepare and maintain the roll of the Supreme Court in which shall be entered the names of all persons who, as senior advocates or advocates, including advocate on record, are entitled to practise in the court.

The committee observed that in the case of former chief justice Jamali, the bar contained in Article 207 (3) of the Constitution appeared to be applicable and thus, notwithstanding any existing precedent, prima facie, the application for the restoration of his name on the Roll of the Advocates of the Supreme Court appeared not to be maintainable.



“The committee shall, therefore, appreciate response from the applicant in this regard, in writing at his convenience,” says a letter written by the PBC secretary to Justice (retd) Jamali. The committee took the decision in August.

According to sources, the committee had also rejected the applications of Justice (retd) Tariq Pervez and Justice (retd) Khalilur Rehman Khan for the restoration of their licences.

On the other hand, earlier enrolment committees had restored the licences of former chief justices Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Tassaduq Hussain Jilani, Justice Sair Ali and Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan in the past. However, the incumbent committee has not followed the precedent.

Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Ahsan Bhoon, while addressing a ceremony held to mark the beginning of the new judicial year, had expressed reservations over reappointment of retired judges of superior courts in various departments, saying that the pension of the judges was sufficient for them after retirement.