When he was chief judge, judge Athar Minallah of the Supreme Court defended the decision to open the Islamabad High Court on April 9 at night, stating that courts had to stay open anytime martial law is threatened.
The senior judge discussed the difficulties and vital significance of judicial independence and the rule of law in Pakistan while speaking to the New York City Bar Association on the topic of “Independence of Judiciary and Rule of Law in Pakistan.”
Justice emphasized—citing the Memogate case and the ouster of previous prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani—that the Supreme Court should stay out of political affairs. “The Memogate case was not something that the Supreme Court should have taken up,” he said. “It’s not
