Justice Qazi Faez Isa becomes new Chief Justice of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (NNI): Justice Qazi Faez Isa took oath as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan Sunday.

President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath to Chief Justice Faez Isa during a ceremony held at President House.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial retired from the post of Chief Justice of Pakistan at midnight, after which Justice Isa became the new Chief Justice of Pakistan. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir were present at the oath-taking ceremony.

Services chiefs, cabinet members, judges and lawyers were also present at the oath-taking ceremony.

The biggest challenge, Justice Isa will be facing as the Chief Justice is unifying the Supreme Court and restoring its credibility. During former Chief Justice Bandial’s tenure, the apex court was deeply divided and the perceived practice of the formation of a particular bench consisting of ‘like-minded judges’ to hear constitutional matters of public importance has invited criticism of the top judiciary.

On his first day on duty as CJP on Monday, Chief Justice Isa will hear a set of petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023.

However, according to legal experts, the biggest challenge before newly appointed Chief Justice Isa would be when petitions seeking election within 90 days would land in the Supreme Court.

Besides this, the challenges to the military trials of civilians would also be a test for CJP as in a dissenting judgment against military courts in August 2015, Justice Isa observed “21st Amendment does not succeed in its attempt to try civilians by the military and that the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, which if implemented would help to stem terrorism and also ensure the conviction of terrorists.”

Justice Isa’s nomination as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan was approved by President Dr Arif Alvi on June 21. Former CJP Bandial yesterday expressed best wishes for his successor.

Justice (r) Bandial served as the top judicial office for over 19 months; he was appointed on Feb 2, 2022, though his notification had been issued on Jan 17. Whereas, Justice Isa will serve as chief justice for over a year, until Oct 25, 2024. He took the oath as a Supreme Court judge on Sept 5, 2014.

It is pertinent to mention here that President Alvi had filed a reference of misconduct against Justice Isa in the Supreme Judicial Council in May 2019 on the recommendation of then Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.

However, a 10-judge Supreme Court bench led by Justice Bandial set aside the presidential reference against Justice Isa in June 2020, absolving him of the charge of misconduct for allegedly not revealing three offshore companies in the name of his wife and children.

Consequently, the proceedings against Justice Isa pending in the SJC also stood terminated. However, the apex court then ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to conduct an inquiry into the allegations of non-declaration of foreign assets.

Later in an exciting turn of events, the Supreme Court in April 2021, by a majority of six to four, overturned its June 2020 order that required verification and subsequent findings by the tax authorities on three foreign properties after accepting his review petition.

Justice Isa was born on October 26, 1959 in Quetta. In his early years, he was a part of the Bar of England and Wales in the 1980s and was enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court from Balochistan. He has practiced law for over 27 years before all the high courts, the Federal Shariat Court and the Supreme Court.

Later, he also served as a member of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, Sindh High Court Bar Association, and Life Member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and chief justice of Balochistan during different periods.

After CJP Isa’s assumption of office, composition of SJC, JCP altered

Soon after Justice Qazi Faez Isa became the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has also been changed.

The CJP and two senior-most judges of the apex court are members of the SJC.

Justice Sardar Tariq is already a member of the SJC, while Justice Ijazul Ahsan has become a member of Judicial Council.

Justice Muneeb Akhtar, on the other hand, has become a member of the judicial commission, which appoints judges.

Justice Sardar Tariq, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah are already members of the commission.

Chief Justice of Pakistan heads the commission while four senior judges are its members.

Other members of the commission include: a retired judge, law minister, attorney general, and members of the bar council.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa took oath as the 29th chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) at a ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, following the retirement of Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

He was administered the oath of office by President Arif Alvi. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, top military officials, caretaker federal ministers, senators and foreign ambassadors, attended the ceremony.