ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Atta Bandial on Monday said that the performance of the Supreme Court was affected when it was overwhelmed with constitutional cases and was under scrutiny.
“The court itself has been subjected to these tough tests and environment several times,” the chief justice said, adding that these conditions affected the performance of the judiciary.
Chief Justice Bandial’s remarks came when he was addressing a function in connection with the new judicial year in the federal capital.
Fifteen judges of the Supreme Court – including Justice Yahya Afridi who is abroad – attended the function where Justice Bandial delivered his last address.
The Chief Justice is scheduled to retire on September 16.
His successor, Senior Judge Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, will step into his shoes on September 17.
“This is my last speech on the auspicious occasion of the new judicial year. Last time I spoke to you.”
He added: “I don’t want to repeat the environment the court faced, but it has faced it many times and we have made those events part of our decision at AudioLeaks.”
Highlighting the court’s performance after assuming charge, the chief justice said the Supreme Court disposed of nearly 23,000 cases last year, breaking the record of 18,000 cases in a year.
“Though I wanted to reduce the pendency of 50,000 cases, I have been able to dispose of only 2,000 cases,” he added.
The Chief Justice said that despite the summer vacation, he worked tirelessly with other judges and appreciated the full cooperation of his fellow judges for speedy disposal of cases.
Looking at his successor, Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, the Chief Justice expressed good wishes and said that my brother is an admirable personality, our point of view is different from each other, as it is a matter of open mind, there will always be differences of opinion. Is. But I also have a lot of respect for him.”
“We have set the procedure for exercising the original jurisdiction of the court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution and have taken only one hundred moto cases in nine months,” he said.
The Chief Justice expressed serious concern over the country’s economic situation and political instability, but said that once political stability comes, other sectors will also flourish.
Journalists are the ears and nose of society, there was some misreporting when my remarks ‘good to see you’, and the words ‘short and sweet decision’ were misinterpreted by the media, but whenever misreporting happened. We ignored it. Done, said the Chief Justice.
He hoped that the Supreme Court would become stronger and more independent, adding that it was now up to successive administrations to further strengthen the institution.
Apart from other judicial staff, he also appreciated the inclusion of women colleagues on the bench, including Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Musrat Hilali, whom he found kind and cooperative in discharging their constitutional duty.
‘Opportunity to reflect’
Speaking on the occasion earlier, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan said that the beginning of the new judicial year should reflect the determination of each of them to play their role in ensuring a fair and efficient justice system and that provided an opportunity to verify.
He said that original jurisdiction under Article 184(3) should be exercised in very few and exceptional cases, adding that the Constitution requires that this jurisdiction be exercised in matters of public importance. , which unlike Article 185 deals only with enforcement of fundamental rights. which provided more specific guidelines for the appellate jurisdiction of this Court.
‘Justice to citizens remained slow’
President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Abid S. Zuberi praised the Supreme Court for continuing to function during the summer vacation. However, he said that several cases of political nature were scheduled for hearing in the court due to which the delivery of justice to ordinary citizens was slow.
He also spoke about the issue of elections in Punjab where the Election Commission did not follow the court order to ensure the elections with the constitutional requirement of 90 days.
He demanded that action should be taken against the Election Commission under Article 6 of the Constitution so that no constitutional body would dare to violate the Constitution in the future.
‘Long orders delayed’
Speaking at the event, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice Chairman Haroon Rasheed said that a practice has been adopted by the Supreme Court by issuing short orders while the detailed orders were delayed to such an extent that some judges retired. Done while the review time has expired. The application is also over.
He requested Chief Justice-designate Qazi Faiz Isa to establish a system that can dispel this perception and decide cases on merit to restore public confidence in the institution.
