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ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial has said that the court had been tested by being entangled in constitutional issues.
Justice Bandial was speaking at a full court reference to mark the beginning of the new judicial year. The top judge said he was addressing the New Judicial Year ceremony for the last time.
CJP Bandial said events of recent months had an effect on the performance of the Supreme Court. He mentioned the cases placed before the court in February this year which embroiled the court in a constitutional crisis.
“I do not want to repeat what happened but the court’s performance was affected,” the chief justice said. He added that all the events have been mentioned in the audio leaks case verdict. The court itself became a victim of difficult circumstances several times, he added.
The reference was attended by all judges of the Supreme Court other than Justice Yahya Afridi, who is not in the country. Nominated Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa was also present. Attorney General Usman Mansoor as well as a large number of lawyers also attended the reference.
He said last year at the same event he had highlighted the past year’s performance of the court. He said the Supreme Court disposed of a record 23,000 cases within a single year.
The chief justice added that he hoped to bring the number of pending cases under 50,000 but the number could only be decreased by 2,000.
He also mentioned that the Dam Fund was still active and was being supervised by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court.
It is pertinent to mention that Justice Umar Ata Bandial will retire as Chief Justice of Pakistan on September 16 after reaching the age of superannuation.
A farewell dinner honoring the CJP will be held on September 13 at the Supreme Court Bar Association. The chief justice designate Justice Qazi Faez Isa will take the oath of office on September 17.
