Daily Times

Justice Qazi Faez Isa took oath as the 29th chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Sunday. CJP Faez was sworn in by President Dr Arif Alvi at a ceremony held at the President House in Islamabad in the presence of Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.

Justice Isa was flanked by his wife Sarina Isa as the notification for his appointment was read out. His term in office as the CJP will span 13 months, ending on October 25, 2024.

Notably, Justice Isa is the second CJP to hail from Balochistan after Iftikhar Chaudhry. The incumbent CJP has gained widespread recognition for presiding over crucial cases such as the Memogate Commission, the Quetta Tragedy Inquiry Commission and the Faizabad Dharna Decision. Earlier, the ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran.

Justice Isa was born on October 26, 1959, in Quetta. His father, Qazi Muhammad Isa, was a prominent member of the movement for the establishment of Pakistan and a close associate of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

He completed his primary education in Quetta and his A and O levels at Karachi Grammar School. He then pursued law studies in London, where he completed the bar professional examination.

Justice Isa began his legal career as an advocate in the Balochistan High Court in 1985 and later became an advocate of the Supreme Court in 1998. He practised law in the Balochistan High Court and the Supreme Court for over 27 years before being appointed as the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court in 2009.

He served as chief justice of the high court from 2009 to 2014 and was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2014.

During the state of emergency declared in the country on November 3, 2007, Justice Isa made a principled decision not to appear before judges whom he believed had violated their oath. In protest, the then-judges of the Balochistan High Court resigned, and later, Justice Isa assumed the position of judge and later Chief Justice of the high court on August 5, 2009. He took the oath as a Supreme Court justice on September 5, 2014. Justice Isa has recently been in the spotlight for his protest against the non-implementation of the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act, which was created during the Shahbaz Sharif era.

As a form of protest, he has refrained from hearing any cases for the past five months and has chosen to work in his chambers instead.

In his first act as the top judge following the oath-taking ceremony, Justice Isa formed a full court to hear a set of challenges to the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, a bill that requires the formation of benches on constitutional matters of public importance by a committee of three senior judges of the court. The pleas will be taken up at 9am today (Monday). Notices for the proceeding have already been issued to Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan. The enforcement of the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 had been suspended on the April 13 order of an eight-judge apex court bench, headed by outgoing CJP Umar Ata Bandial.

When the law was suspended, Justice Bandial had observed that the court had great respect for the Parliament but it also had to examine if any constitutional deviation, violation or transgression had taken place while enacting the SC (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023.

The petitioners had pleaded before the apex court that the concept, preparation, endorsement and passing of the SC (Practice and Procedure) Bill was an act tainted with mala fide. Therefore, the bill should be struck down after declaring it to be without lawful authority and of no legal effect, the petition contended. Moreover, they said the federal government cannot frame any law that seeks to interfere or regulate with the functioning of the apex court or the powers exercised by it or its judges including CJP, under the Constitution.