Judge, 5th on seniority list, accorded important tasks

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial has handed down important administrative duties to Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, who is on the fifth spot in the apex court’s seniority list.

The justice will be in charge of affairs pertaining to security, library, rest houses, and will oversee the process of termination of the probation period of B-16 and senior staff members, among others. In addition, the CJP has also appointed Justice Ahsan as chairman of Disciplinary Tribunal of Pakistan Bar Council, Information Technology (IT) affairs and departmental selection committee.

He will also be a member of the Federal Judicial Academy and building committee.

Read more: Justice Bandial takes oath as 28th chief justice of Pakistan

However, it is yet to be ascertained whether CJP Bandial, who is the master of the roster, will also assign administrative duties to senior puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

During the tenure of former CJP Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Isa was the head of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) enrolment committee for granting practice licences to SC lawyers.

Since his appointment as CJP, senior lawyers are urging Justice Bandial to summon SC full court meetings to discuss issues related to the working of the apex court. Interestingly, no SC full court has been held for the last couple of years.

It has been noticed that significant matters and high profile cases are not being listed in bench No 2, which is led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

The pattern got all the more pronounced when cases such as the ECP’s plea against Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) order in local governments case and the Monal hotel administration’s petition against Islamabad High Court (IHC) order were found listed in bench No 5.

Despite the fact that Justice Isa is a senior puisne judge, he is not heading the three-member bench. According to next week’s roster, Justice Isa will head the division bench. Justice Yahya Afridi has been part of this bench for the last many months.

Also read: Justice Gulzar leaves behind a mixed legacy

In February last year, Justice Qazi Faez Isa had written a letter to the then CJP, Gulzar Ahmed, wherein he noted that the Supreme Court often castigates arbitrary exercise of discretion, yet while making benches hearing important constitutional matters unstructured discretion is exercised.

“If the Executive’s transgressions are not checked, and instead benches are reconstituted and judges restrained, the people suffer. To exclude senior judges from benches when important constitutional issues are to be heard neither serves the institution nor the people,” the judge said.

He said the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of all disputes and the custodian of the Constitution. It is tasked to ensure that the Executive does not overreach or act contrary to the Constitution.

"Incidentally, you (personally) know that [while working] as [a] counsel for twenty-seven years and as chief justice [of] the Balochistan High Court for over five years, constitutional work is what I mostly did.”

Justice Isa said the recurrent issue of unstructured discretionary powers has been left unattended by former CJPs and not taken up at full-court meetings. He also sent a copy of the letter to Justice Maqbool Baqar who is number five in terms of seniority among the Supreme Court judges.

In June 2020, Justice Yahya Afridi – while writing a dissenting note in Justice Isa case – observed that the apex court should be more careful while exercising its advisory and suo motu jurisdictions because no appeal could be mounted against its judgments and opinions on those matters.…

He advised against being creative with it or making it more 'obvious'. So It's a bit flat.