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ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed is retiring on Tuesday (today) after two years and 42 days in the highest judicial office.
Justice Gulzar Ahmed was appointed to the highest judicial office on December 21, 2019. Senior puisne judge Justice Umar Ata Bandial will take over as the chief justice on February 2.
During his tenure as the CJP, Justice Ahmed took notice of attacks on temples, reprimanding police for failing to prevent them, and assured minorities that their rights and places of worship would be protected as long as he served the top judicial office.
Speaking at a seminar in August last year, Justice Gulzar had recalled how he felt pain when he learnt about the desecration of temples both at Hindu Samadhi in Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and at Ganesh Mandir in Bhong, Rahim Yar Khan.
Justice Gulzar also initiated suo motu proceedings to examine the executive steps for controlling the spread of the coronavirus. However, he went easy on the PTI-led government during his tenure and did not pass any coercive remarks.
The outgoing CJP mainly focused on removing encroachments in Karachi. He ordered the demolition of multi-storey Nasla Tower as well as illegal houses built around Gujjar Nullah. He also ordered the authorities to end commercial activities on the military lands in Karachi.
Justice Gulzar further ordered to demolish a mosque and other encroachments built on amenity parks near Tariq Road in Karachi. Despite strong protests, he did not withdraw any order for the removal of encroachments in Karachi. The outgoing CJP made history by nominating Lahore High Court’s Justice Ayesha Malik for her appointment as the first female judge of the top court.
The notification for the appointment of Justice Bandial as the next CJP was issued by the law ministry of January 17. Justice Bandial will serve in the top judicial office until Sept 16, 2023, when he is due to be replaced by Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
When elevated to the office of CJP, Justice Bandial will face a veritable mountain of around 51,766 cases that are pending before the Supreme Court alone. The overall backlog of cases in Pakistan’s judiciary, including the superior courts as well as district courts, stands at a whopping 2.1 million.
The Supreme Court Bar Association hosted a farewell dinner in honor of Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed. Nominated Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Supreme Court judges and senior lawyers also attended the dinner.
While addressing on the occasion, Justice Umar Ata Bandial mentioned that the country must criticise the decisions, not the authors. He added that bar and the bench have a beautiful relationship and a common goal to deliver justice.
He further added that the number of pending cases has increased and they will expedite the process of dealing with the cases while the decisions of the cases will be done after hearing both the parties.
