ISLAMABAD: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has written a seven-page letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, raising six institutional questions and seeking answers at the upcoming judicial conference scheduled for September 8.
“As the most senior judge after you, I am writing this letter in discharge of my duty towards the institution,” the letter stated. Justice Shah noted that he had written multiple letters to the Chief Justice but had not received any written or verbal response.
The questions highlighted in the letter include: why the meeting of the Practice and Procedure Committee has not been convened; why the Supreme Court Rules were approved through circulation instead of by a full court; why individual consultation was undertaken for changing the policy on issuance of dissenting notes; why a general order was issued on judges’ vacations; and why an original full court was not constituted to hear petitions against the 26th Amendment.
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The sixth point alleged that instead of ensuring judicial independence, judges were being cultivated as a “controlled force.”
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah expressed hope that the Chief Justice would respond to these questions in the inaugural ceremony of the new judicial year, describing the event as an opportunity for “institutional renewal.” He added that by answering these questions, the principles of collectivity and constitutional fidelity would be reinforced.
