K-P Bar Council asks CJ to step down

Khyber-Pakthunkhwa Bar Council has demanded of the Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial to step down over what it called his authoritative style.

“From the dissenting note of the Justice Athar Minallah, it is now clear that the suo moto was rejected by four to three verdict but due to his ego the chief justice went his way and earned the judiciary a bad name,” the bar council statement said.

In a press statement issued here on Saturday, Vice Chairman of the Bar Council Zar Badshah Khan Advocate said that the chief justice has adopted an authoritative style in Supreme Court, which has left the judicial system stained.

“The chief justice has violated his oath and the judicial code of conduct,” he observed, adding that the dissenting note by Justice Athar Minallah has showed that the case had been decided by the majority but chief justice told lies about the decision.

“The K-P Bar Council has filed a reference against Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi in Supreme Judicial Council but still he is made part of the benches and senior judges are ignored in the benches,” he maintained, adding that it is the clear cut violation of the judicial code of conduct.

Zar Badshah said that the chief justice has failed completely in fulfilling his constitutional responsibilities as chairman judicial council because he didn’t nominate any judges from Peshawar High Court.

“The chief justice didn’t nominate any judge from PHC for judicial council and the meeting of the judicial council is not being called to make the chief justice PHC permanent and this injustice is being done intentionally,” he added.

He demanded of the federal government to file a reference against the chief justice so that to restore the trust of the general public on the Supreme Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2023.