Justice delayed is justice denied. Sadly in Pakistan, the delivery of justice to the poor is indeed very difficult but now even the judges are also complaining about injustice. The issue of appointing 5 judges in the Supreme Court of Pakistan is getting prolonged due to differences between the respected judges. Yesterday, two more judges expressed their concerns by writing a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Two members of the Judicial Commission including Justice Sardar Tariq Masood reminded Chief Justice Justice Umar Ata Bandial of his constitutional responsibility of appointing 5 judges in the Supreme Court and said that the meeting of the Judicial Commission should have been scheduled automatically when the seat was vacant.
The letter of the Judicial Commission members also said that the secretary of a constitutional body like the Judicial Commission should be a professional one. There has been a delay of 9 months in the appointment of judges. The judicial commission meeting should be called soon.
Earlier, the senior judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, also urged Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to immediately convene a meeting of the Judicial Commission and fill the vacant posts. The said posts were vacant after the retirement of Justice Mushir Alam, former Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Maqbool Baqir, Justice Mazhar Alam and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial is also the head of the Judicial Commission and the commission itself approves the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court, while some judges are not appointed to the posts after their retirement. But it is worrisome that the protest of the judicial commission members is reaching the media.
If the Judicial Commission members objected to the issue of the appointment of judges by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, then the respected judges should have raised this matter in front of the CJP Bandial in the Judicial Commission- not in public. One of the most authoritative things about the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, is that it is not the judges who speak, but their decisions.
It is necessary that all judicial commission members, including Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, sit together and not only solve the issue of vacancies, but also prevent the mutual differences of judges from reaching the media so that the narrative of divided justice does not gain strength.Â
