Tenure well served: CJ Nasirul Mulk retires after eventful stint

Outgoing chief justice will be remembered for four historic judgments

ISLAMABAD:

Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk will be putting his gavel away today after a 13-month long stint as head of the country’s superior judiciary. The outgoing CJ, who earned for himself the epithet of English judge, will be remembered for his adherence to the policy of judicial restraint which is widely supported by the legal fraternity.

During his short tenure, CJ Nasirul Mulk has given four historical judgments, which have strengthened democracy in the country.

Firstly, senior lawyers appreciate his role during last year’s sit-ins by the Pakistan Awami Tehreek and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue.

He was responsible for passing the order on August 15, 2014 wherein all state functionaries were restrained from taking any extra-constitutional steps in the prevailing situation. Justice Nasir was also heading the bench that had rejected the plea to disqualify PM Nawaz Sharif for lying on the floor of the National Assembly.

Justice Nasir, along with two other fellow judges, accepted the task of probing rigging claims in the last general elections. All the major parties have praised his conduct during the proceedings of the inquiry commission. After spending 86 days, the outgoing CJ rejected the rigging allegations.

In addition, the outgoing CJ has given 88-page judgment in the 18th and 21st amendment case. In the judgement he declared that parliament has the authority to bring any constitutional amendment and the top court cannot strike down the amendment on any ground.

From March 2009 till the end of 2013, ex-chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had adopted the policy of judicial activism. This became the source of confrontations between the superior judiciary and other state institutions – including the executive, the legislature, the election commission and other government departments.

Unlike ex-CJ Iftikhar, who was accused of meddling in government affairs, Justice Nasir’s term is credited with adopting the policy of ‘judicial restraint’. He has also reversed the former chief justice’s verdict in Khawaja Asif case, wherein the federal government’s power to appoint heads of different state’s departments was encroached.

During his tenure, the apex court focused its attention on disposal of the cases of ordinary litigants. Conversely, ordinary litigants, who came from remote areas of the country to appear before the court, faced immense hardships during the tenure of Iftikhar Chaudhry. Their cases were repeatedly adjourned due to the prolonged proceedings of high-profile cases.

CJ Mulk was not in favour of media publicity. He did not pick up populist causes highlighted by the media.


Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2015.