In the new Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), every day is a fresh start. Now that Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa is leading the SCP, it seems like they are doing a commendable job of bringing some order back into our legal system.
Not that there was never an order before, but certain former chief justices’ actions showed their innocence.
Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, a former judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), had his dismissal overturned by the Supreme Court on March 22, adding another feather to its hat. To refresh your memory, the CJ and Justices Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Mandokhel, Syed Hasan Rizvi, and Irfan Saadat made up a five-member bench that postponed ruling on Siddiqui’s appeal against his dismissal in January of this year.
The court deserves praise for live-broadcasting the case proceedings on the SC website. The former judge was dismissed from employment after contesting a ruling made by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
It is important to remember that the PTI government, led by Imran Khan, immediately began a campaign of intimidation against other state organizations and the crushing of the opposition in an effort to seize total control in 2018. According to reports, the PTI government received backing for its endeavors from the most influential segments of the national government.
Whether they liked it or not, even the SJC seemed to be following the rules. The speech Justice Siddiqui gave at the Rawalpindi Bar Association was the focus of accusations against him.
