ISLAMABAD: Without blaming anyone, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial questioned on Wednesday what the protesters who blocked the Supreme Court’s entrance on May 15 had gained other from impeding the administration of justice, while condemning the act.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) made the remark while presiding over a three-judge bench that was considering the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) review petition against the April 4 decision to set May 14 as the date for holding Punjab Assembly elections. “This is not right, since dispensation of justice is the virtue of Allah Almighty and any interference entails “consequences,” the CJP said.
The remarks were an indirect reference to the PDM-sponsored protests and sit-in staged on the Constitution Avenue, right in front of the apex court gates meant exclusively for the use of judges, to demand the CJP’s immediate resignation.
However, after realising that constitutional institutions should operate in accordance with the law, Justice Bandial applauded the government’s initiative to enact the SC Review of Judgements and Orders Act, 2023. Another veiled allusion to the debate surrounding the four-to-three-judge majority ruling, he said that the government’s current thinking was not grounded in mathematics.
