Just five months after he had gracefully held on to the black book in the parliament and proclaimed it as his and all of Pakistan’s identity, the newly-minted Chief Justice of Pakistan seems ready to stare down the face of the long list of challenges before him and swerve the ball out of the park in his own style. From breaking precedent at the very beginning, as he called his wife to take the coveted oath beside him to the unprecedented appointment of the first female registrar of the Supreme Court to taking his personal vehicle to work (in stark contrast to luxury SUVs used by his predecessors) to calling the full court to hear a set of petitions in mere 24 hours, symbolism reigns over the maverick judge’s performance as he gives a stern, undeniable message to his critics. Most significant of this has been the first-ever live broadcast in Pakistan’s judicial history. A new era has definitely begun for the country’s top judiciary where intense public scrutiny would take note of all questions asked, logic contemplated and the expressions of all parties in the house. By the looks of it, Pakistan finally has its most critical pillar being led by someone who realises that judges owe their stature to the people and therefore, their actions and judgements should be accessible. If transparency is actually established and the masses get to see what is happening inside courtrooms, Justice Isa would play an instrumental role in cutting down unnecessary sensationalism. However, much more would be needed to call his stint a “revolution.” He has donned the robes at a time when as many as 56,000 cases remain pending before the SC alone and the landscape, increasingly disturbing with raging divides. The judiciary’s credibility remains tainted and unless historic judgments are given to resolve the election predicament and guarantee the constitutionally-mandated right to free and fair trial soon, nothing significant would change in the public’s court. *