Tag: Supreme Court

  • Top judges get big boost in allowances

    Top judges get big boost in allowances

    The federal government has on Thursday made substantial hikes in the house rent and judicial allowance of both Supreme Court judges and High Court judges. 

    As per a notification issued by the Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar, house rent of Supreme Court judges has been increased from Rs 68,000 to 350,000 (sixty-eight thousand to three hundred and fifty thousand rupees).

    Likewise, following the approval from Acting President Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, judicial allowance of the judges has also been increased from Rs 428,040 to Rs 1,161,163 (four hundred twenty-eight thousand forty rupees to eleven lac sixty-one thousand one hundred sixty-three rupees).

    Similarly, the government has also increased the house rent of High Court judges from 65,000 to 350,000 rupees (sixty-five thousand to three hundred fifty thousand rupees) and judicial allowance from 342,431 to 1,090,000 rupees (three hundred forty-two thousand four hundred thirty-one to ten lac ninety thousand rupees).

  • Supreme Court seeks record of housing scheme linked to Gen Faiz Hameed

    Supreme Court seeks record of housing scheme linked to Gen Faiz Hameed

    The Supreme Court of Pakistan has instructed Capital Development Authority (CDA) to provide a complete record of the illegal ‘Northridge Housing Society’ in the C-12 sector of Islamabad.

    The society, which infringes on the Margalla Hills National Park, is allegedly linked to former spymaster Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hameed, Dawn News reported.

    During the hearing of the contempt of court petition for violating the Supreme Court June 11 order, Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) counsel Barrister Umer Ijaz Gillani told the court, “As per my client’s instructions, the owner of the society has a very close relationship with Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed.”

    The apex court’s June 11 verdict ordered the relocation of the restaurants from the National Park in Islamabad, including Monal, within three months.

    Barrister Gillani cleared that he couldn’t prove the ownership as he didn’t have any documents.

    A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa ordered the CDA and Chief Commissioner to prepare the complete ownership record of the housing society.

  • Supreme Court overturns 2022 verdict on Article 63A

    Supreme Court overturns 2022 verdict on Article 63A

    A larger five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, has accepted the review petition of Article 63A filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

    The ruling given in May 2022 by a five-member larger bench headed by former CJ Umar Ata Bandial on Article 63A has been struck down by the apex court’s larger bench with a 5-0 majority.

    Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa stated that Article 63A is redundant as the constitution already addresses the issue clearly, and added that judges can’t write the constitution.

    The five-member bench included Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhail, along with CJP Qazi Faez Isa.

    A recent top court five member bench verdict by 3-2 stated that parliament members who vote against their parliamentary leader will be considered deviant, and their vote will also be not counted.

    It should be mentioned here that the verdict of May 17, 2022 was authored by Justice Munib Akhtar.

    However, the detailed review case verdict of Article 63A will be issued soon.

    Article 63A noted that parliamentary members will lose their seats if they vote against the command of the party chief.

    However, it is not stated that parliamentary vote can’t be counted.

    During the hearing, Qazi Faez Isa stated that political parties are not subject to the authority of a judge or Chief Justice.

    Counsel of founder Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Barrister Ali Zafar, objected to the composition of the bench on behalf of his client. As a result, the Supreme Court appointed him as judicial assistant.

    Barrister Ali Zafar told the members of the larger bench that the parliamentary party directed the parliament members to vote in parliament and added that the Chief Parliamentary party could send ineligible references to parliamentary members if his order defied.

    In response, the Chief Justice declared the vote against the party “a suicide attack.”

  • Bilawal warns of ‘face-off’ in country if amendments not passed before Oct 25

    Bilawal warns of ‘face-off’ in country if amendments not passed before Oct 25

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto while talking to journalists during a meeting with Supreme Court Press Association’s delegation on October 2, warned of a “face-off like situation” in the country if the constitutional amendments were not passed before October 25.

    It should be highlighted that Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire on October 25 this year.

    Bilawal has been at the forefront of campaigning for the coalition government’s decision to pass the constitutional amendments ever since it failed to do so last month.

    Last month, the government remained unsuccessful in convincing JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazl ur Rehman as opposition and government leaders raced to woo him.

    “The matter will be resolved peacefully if the amendment is passed before October 25. Otherwise, the situation could lead to confrontation,” warned Bilawal.

    He reiterated the PPP’s goal to establish a constitutional court – a goal set in the Charter of Democracy signed by the slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in 2006.

    Bilawal blamed the judiciary for being biased and political, questioning the top court’s reserved seats verdict.

    Interestingly, he also stated that when Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar apprised the SC judges of judicial reforms, then “they [SC Judges] instantly announced the verdict in the reserved seats case which is direct interference.”

    Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) leader Senator Kamran Murtaza told Geo News that he won’t cooperate with anyone under threat of bloodshed and pressure, in reference to Bilawal’s statement.

  • Fiery exchange in Supreme Court: PTI worker threatens larger bench

    Fiery exchange in Supreme Court: PTI worker threatens larger bench

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker Mustafeen Kazmi has threatened the five members of a larger bench of the Supreme Court amidst the review hearing of Article 63A case.

    During the hearing on Wednesday at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Mustafeen Kazmi came to the rostrum and declared the larger five-member bench unconstitutional, threatening, “We have 500 workers outside; will see how you give a verdict against them,” Geo News has reported.

    Responding to the misbehaving of PTI worker Kazmi, CJP Qazi Faez Isa directed him to sit down, but he refused. Then, Isa politely directed the police to evacuate this gentleman from the courtroom.

    “What else you can do,” Kazmi responded.

    Addressing PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar, the Chief Justice questioned what is happening in the courtroom: “Ali Zafar Sahab aap ayyein or hamain bay izzat karain, yeh hum hargiz bardasht nahi karaingy, judges sey badtameezi ka yeh tareeqa ab aam hu gaya hai (Ali Zafar, you came here and disrespected us {judges}, we won’t tolerate it, and now it has become the norm to misbehaved with judges).”

    Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail clearly told Zafar that any sympathy they had for him had faded away following his behaviour.

    Ali Zafar responded by stating that the members of the bench forming committee are part of the bench and questioned how they can declare the formation of the bench legal. In response, the Chief Justice remarked that if they consider this point, then members of the committee judges won’t be part of any bench.

    Later, the apex court adjourned the hearing till tomorrow at 11:30 AM.

  • ‘Go Donut go’; Lawyer protest outside Supreme Court has internet laughing

    ‘Go Donut go’; Lawyer protest outside Supreme Court has internet laughing

    A small number of lawyers protested outside the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan yesterday, chanting, “Go donut go,” referring to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa.

    The slogan “Go donut go” was raised after a month-old video appeared on social media showing CJP Qazi Faez Isa, along with his family, attempting to purchase donuts at Crusteez Donuts in Islamabad Blue Area, where an employee was rude to him while recording the incident.

    Advocate Salman Akram Raja, while addressing the protest, said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came out to protest for the rule of law and constitution.

    However, the small numbers and slogans got social media laughing. Here are some funny tweets:

  • President approves Practice and Procedure Amendments Ordinance

    President approves Practice and Procedure Amendments Ordinance

    President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has signed the Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance after the federal cabinet approved the bill.

    According to the ordinance, in the absence of a committee member, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) will be able to nominate a judge as a committee member, The News has reported.

    The ordinance reads, “Each case and appeal will be recorded, and its transcript will be prepared, which will be available to the public, and each case will be heard on its turn; otherwise, reason will be given if the court hears case out of turn.”

    The ordinance also says that court benches will look into cases in light of fundamental human rights and public importance.

    The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had passed the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act 2023 in a bid to ensure transparent proceedings within the apex court and to safeguard the right to appeal.

    However, Supreme Court’s eight member bench, which was chaired by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, stayed the bill due to several petitions challenging it.

  • Govt decides to increase Supreme Court judges to 23

    The federal government has decided to increase the number of Supreme Court judges to 23, which includes the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, Geo News reported.

    The government has submitted the amendment bill of The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1997, to the National Assembly Secretariat today.

    PML-N member Danyal Chaudhary proposed the bill in the National Assembly. The bill stated that the larger number of Supreme Court judges would help ensure timely hearings and decisions despite the backlog of cases.

    According to the proposed bill, expertise is needed in cases related to cybercrime, environmental law, and global trade.

    In February 2024, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan released the Bi-Annual Report of Judicial Statistics from July to December 2023, reporting that pending cases reached a staggering 2.26 million figure.

  • CJ-led SC bench reinstates three PML-N leaders’ NA membership

    CJ-led SC bench reinstates three PML-N leaders’ NA membership

    A three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, restored the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order to recount three Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members constituency results while reinstating them.

    The SC bench declared the Lahore High Court’s decision null and void while hearing the recount petitions of three different polling stations of NA-154, NA-81, and NA-79.

    However, the decision was made with a majority of 2-1, with Justice Aqeel Abbasi issuing a dissenting note.

    The court reinstated the election commission’s decision regarding the recount of votes for three PML-N members: Azhar Qayyum Nahra, Abdul Rehman Kanju, and Zulfiqar Ahmed.

  • CJP offers apology over delay of justice to murder convict

    CJP offers apology over delay of justice to murder convict

    Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa has ordered the immediate release of a man scheduled to be set free six years ago.
    Advocate Ahmad Shuja Butt, the convict’s lawyer, told the appellate bench that Mohammad Akram, a resident of Khanewal who was convicted in 1997 of murder, was still in jail six years after the reconciliation of both parties.

    Justice Isa offered an apology for the Apex Court’s inability to serve justice.
    In its order, the five-member Shariat appellate bench stated that the conclusion took time to reach due to the lack of proper assistance.