KP Bar Council asks CJP to step down

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council has asked the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to step down, saying the top judge had become controversial.

Expressing reservations over the verdict of the three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Supreme Court Umar Ata Bandial, who had taken suo moto notice of the delay in holding the polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the KP Bar Council said that it had become clear after the detailed judicial note of Supreme Court Judge Athar Minallah that the case was dismissed by 4-3.

According to a press release, Zar Badshah Khan, Advocate, Vice Chairman of KP Bar Council, said that the CJP had not only undermined the judiciary by adopting a dictatorial attitude but also violated the code of conduct for judges of the superior judiciary and his oath of office.

He said that senior judges of the Supreme Court were ignored in the formation of benches, which was also a violation of the code of conduct. He said that the KP Bar Council had filed a reference in the Supreme Judicial Council against Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi, but despite this he was included in the bench hearing the suo moto notice case.

Zar Badshah Khan, Advocate, said that the chief justice of Pakistan had failed to perform his duties as chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council. He urged the government to file a reference before the SJC against Justice Bandial in a bid to restore the trust of the people in the higher judiciary, adding that the KP Bar Council was striving to ensure independence of the judiciary.

He said that non-elevation of the Peshawar High Court judges to the Supreme Court of Pakistan was a grave injustice to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.