Days of judicial activism over, remarks CJ Bandial

Apex court suspends LHC order regarding Hajj assistants

ISLAMABAD:

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial remarked on Wednesday the present times were not the era of judicial activism, emphasising that the country would take every decision in accordance with the law.

While hearing a case pertaining to irregularities and mega-corruption in the Employees' Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI), the chief justice gave the last chance to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit details about the matter.

Chief Justice Bandial remarked that the case was from the time when judicial activism was at its peak, adding that it was no longer the situation now. “Every decision will be taken in accordance with the law,” he said.

Chief Justice Bandial was heading a three-judge bench, comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ayesha Malik, to hear the contempt of court plea over violation of the apex court’s ban on recruitment in the EOBI.

He said that the court had taken suo motu notice in 2010, while in January 2011, it ordered to stop recruitment in the EOBI. However, he added, recruitments were made in violation of the court order between September 2011 and May 2012.

In 2014, Chief Justice Bandial continued, the contempt of court plea was filed. He said that NAB had listed the names of those who used their influence for those recruitments, adding that the name of Syed Khurshid Shah was included among those people.

Aitzaz Ahsan, the lawyer for Khurshid Shah, informed the court that his client was not the minister at the time of the recruitments, therefore, he was not related to this case. The chief justice replied that the court would determine who violated the court order.

The chief justice emphasised that instead of taking action against everyone, the court wanted to take action against those responsible. He gave NAB the last chance to submit details of the persons responsible.

The NAB prosecutor sought one month’s time to submit all the details. While granting the request, the chief justice adjourned further hearing of the case for one month.

Hajj assistants

The three-member bench, led by the chief justice, also heard a case about the selection of assistants for Hajj arrangements. The bench suspended a decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the selection of the Hajj assistants.

During the hearing, the additional attorney general argued that the LHC had suspended the lists of Hajj assistants, which was affecting the Hajj arrangements. He added that the selection of the Hajj assistants was a requirement of the Saudi government.