Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday said they would not interfere in the matters related to the high court as the practice in the past didn’t produce good consequences.
“Can a chief justice phone a subordinate a judge to order that the verdict should be passed in such a manner?” he asked during the hearing of a suo moto case related to a letter written by the six justices of Islamabad High Court (IHC).
MONITORING JUDGE IS ALSO AN INTERFERENCE
“We appoint a ‘monitoring judge’. It is also interference,” the chief justice remarked – a reference to Justice Ijazul Ahsan who severed in the same capacity in the Panama Papers cases filed against the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
It seemed that [some] people wanted to promote their thinking instead of independence of judiciary, the chief observed as Attorney General presented Usman Mansoor Awan his arguments while representing the government being the country’s chief law officer.
The chief justice also recalled that he was first individual to name someone for interference by mentioning Lt-Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed in the Faizabad sit-in case.
One the other hand, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah observed that one had to determine what action was to be taken against the one interfering in the court affairs.
Calling for erecting a firewall to stop the practice, Justice Shah said that they had to sit together for finding a solution.
THEY HAD ALL THE POWERS
During the hearing, the attorney general was of the view that the IHC judges had all the powers to required check the alleged interference, including contempt of court.
Justice Musarrat Hilali, meanwhile, wondered why the judges from lower courts were seeking permission from the Supreme Court.
SOURCE OF INTERFERENCE
Chief Justice Isa reminded the audience that he served as the Balochistan High Court chief justice for more than five years and knew how much interference had to be faced, with the most of which coming from the apex court.
However, Justice Athar Minallah noted that he didn’t follow the tradition while serving as the IHC chief justice, while Justice Shah said there was no such thing when headed the Lahore High Court (LHC).
In her comments on the subject, Justice Musarrat Hilali remarked she believed that a person not standing up against interference had no right to occupy the office of judge.
THE 76-YEAR-LONG PARTNERSHIP
At one point, Justice Minallah remarked that the establishment and the judiciary had a 76 years of partnership.
However, the chief justice interrupted and asked him not to include him into this list, adding that no one could mention a single instance of forming a bench to appease anyone.
