CJP to resume office after foreign tour

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By Tariq Butt

ISLAMABAD: This is the first time in the past most hectic five months that the Supreme Court has been quiet mainly because Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar is abroad on a two-week official visit.

He is visiting Russia and China. Accompanied by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Umar Ata Bandial, he on Thursday met his Chinese counterpart Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People’s Court of China, in Beijing. He left for Moscow on May 14.

As per the standard practice, with Justice Saqib Nisar’s absence from Pakistan, senior most judge Justice Asif Saeed Khosa immediately assumed office as the acting chief justice. He will become permanent chief justice after the retirement of the incumbent in January next on attaining the age of superannuation.

Since December last year the Supreme Court proceedings has been making headlines in all newspapers and TV channels. Every other development including the activities of the leading politicians went in the background. What was being discussed in the TV current affairs programmes was also what was happening in the apex court, which became the largest news generating place over the past five months.

Since May 14, Justice Khosa has practically demonstrated that he believes in following the normal, customary functioning of the highest judicial forum. He has not taken even a single suo motu notice during the past ten days.

Justice Saqib Nisar had shunned even weekly holidays and was conducting proceedings on Saturdays and Sundays. This is the first time in the history of the apex court that the top judge worked seven days a week.

As the chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also used to have long working hours and would remain in office till late night, but he had been taking day off on Sundays.

There is another striking similarity between the styles of working of these two top most judges which relates to taking of a large number of suo motu notices. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government had consistently rejected Iftikhar Chaudhry’s hyper activism, targeting it, whereas the present regime has been critical of Justice Saqib Nisar’s notices.

However, this has not deterred the chief justice from vigorously continuing, what he said, his “jihad” to make great improvements in health and education sectors and several other spheres so that people are relieved of hardships and difficulties. At one stage, he announced that he will not take any fresh suo motu notice till the time all such cases are dealt with by him.

Immediately after his return from foreign visit, Justice Saqib Nisar is likely to engage in the judicial activism with the same pace he introduced in December. As he will fly back home, the five-year tenure of the present government will expire and the caretaker setup will come in place.

Former top judges Nasirul Mulk and Tassaduq Hussain Jilani worked absolutely quietly and never took suo motu notices. However, Justice Saqib Nisar is different from them.

The first news about the chief justice’s engagement since he left Pakistan on May 14 came from Beijing on Thursday. It was his session with his Chinese counterpart in which he said Supreme Court has recently held a detailed meeting of all federal departments/ ministries with special focus on the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC). The apex court has also issued directions to the lower courts not to issue injunctive orders on CPEC projects unless the other parties have been heard.