Justice Qazi Faez Isa has written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, requesting him to remove the registrar of Supreme Court for seeking vehicles for retired judges and ‘overlooking important matters’.
In his letter, Justice Isa mentioned that the last time the full court met was on December 12, 2019.
“A number of important matters affecting the administration of justice need urgent resolution …. He [the registrar] circulated for affirmation by the full court a proposal to provide vehicles to retired judges. I received this embarrassing proposal on June 1, 2022,” he said, adding that the same day he asked the registrar to “refer to the law, rule or regulation empowering the full court to do what is proposed”.
Justice Isa said that he received a long-winded nineteen-paragraph response (paras 30 to 48), but significantly, his query (paras 25 to 28) was not answered. “The registrar substitutes meaningful content with verbosity,” he said.
He mentioned that the primary responsibility of the registrar is to ensure compliance with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Supreme Court Rules, 1980, and to better facilitate the administration of justice. “It appears that the registrar perceives himself to be unaccountable.”
Justice Isa requested the CJP to remove the registrar before he “causes the institution further and irreparable harm.”
