Pakistan’s Afghan Concern on November 23, 2021On November 17, 2021, UN Special Representative to Afghanistan Deborah Lyons held a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York and warned the international community of the impending humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan. Further, she urged the international community to find ways to extend financial support to the Afghans, who had been sandwiched between […]
Gaffes gripping Justice Nisar on April 4, 2018To err is human. This adage is the ultimate refuge of a human being. Commit a mistake and expect magnanimous forgiveness from a fellow human being. In the public domain, every error is a gaffe which makes Chief Justice Saqib Nisar more controversial with every passing day, especially after his recent judicial activism. On January […]
Cosying up to the judiciary on March 28, 2018Sycophancy is a curse practised conceitedly in Pakistan. On March 21, during a press conference in Islamabad, Sheikh Rasheed of Awami Muslim League beseeched Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar to impose judicial martial law for three months till the time the general elections take place. Such an unscrupulous statement was expected from none other than […]
Baba Rehmatay’s judiciary on March 21, 2018Parliament is supreme. This stance offers a major challenge to parliament’s two competitors, the army and the judiciary — a case comprehensively dealt with in Article 6 of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan. Since the beginning of this year, one can notice an effort launched by the higher judiciary to belittle the parliament under one […]
Judiciary’s Baba Rehmatay on March 14, 2018Compared to the past when politics used to unfold its theme of recognition, the judiciary is now venting the same. On March 9, while heading a bench hearing the suo moto notice case (related to a fee-hike for admission into medical colleges)at the Supreme Court (SC) Lahore registry, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar said, ‘Let me […]
The judicial farce on March 9, 2018On 21 February 2018, invoking Article 184 (3) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, a bench of the Supreme Court (SC) consisting of Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan issued its detailed judgement on the Election Act 2017. The judgement, which got released to the public officially, comprised 51 […]
Judicial politics on March 5, 2018Pakistan is a highly politicised society where even entertainment is presented in a politicised manner by news channels. On February 27, 2018, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar, while hearing the case regarding drug prices, said, “I swear to God that I have no political agenda”. No one believed him. People did not […]
Judicial relevance on February 21, 2018The judicial activism launched by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Saqib Nisar makes it seems like he is out in the field to establish his relevance. However, it seems as if the people of Pakistan seem irrelevant to the higher judiciary. “Fundamental rights” is a beguiling term that masks lame excuses of every sort. […]
Judicial waste on February 14, 2018On February 6, 2018, outgoing Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah addressed a full court reference in his honour on his elevation to the Supreme Court (SC). Justice Mansoor Ali Shah stated, “The inner mafia in every institution supports the status quo and puts up resistance to change and reforms.” […]
Judicial accountability on February 6, 2018Judges are also subject to law. Though this simple point is yet to be recognised in Pakistan, a step has been taken in this direction on February 1 by Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan of Lahore High Court (LHC), while hearing a writ petition against an administrative decision of the Chief Justice of the LHC, […]