In an official letter to Supreme Court Bar Association President Shahzad Shaukat, top court registrar Jazeela Aslam announced the scheduling of a full court reference for departing Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on October 25.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, a senior Puisne judge, will take CJP Isa’s place as the nation’s top judge.
It is traditional to wish the departing chief justice farewell with a full court reference.
The revelation comes after weeks of political unrest during which there were rumors that the ruling coalition intended to prolong the chief justice’s term through “closely-guarded” legislation pertaining to the court.
The controversial revisions, however, were left hanging because the government was unable to even present the modifications in parliament due to JUI-F president Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s refusal to back the government’s judicial package.
Supposedly, the administration lacked nine Senate votes and thirteen National Assembly votes, as the aforementioned law needs a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Clarifying that he was against any “person specific” approach on setting the tenure of the nation’s top judge, CJP Isa queried rumors.
Following the start of the proceedings of the event to celebrate judicial year, the top judge was confronted by journalists who spoke to him and asked him questions, as CJP Secretary Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmad confirmed last month in response to the party’s remarks being “misreported” in the media.
The statement went on, “The Chief Justice made it obvious that he was speaking with them off the record, but it is essential to accurately reproduce what happened because the conversation has been misconstrued and widely disseminated.”
The chief justice told the reporters that he had advised the law minister that “he would not accept the proposal if it was individual specific and enacted.”
