It was unusual enough for one judge of the Supreme Court to resign, as did Mr Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi on Wednesday, but for him to be emulated by another the very next day was unprecedented. That the judge in question had legitimate expectancy of becoming the next Chief Justice of Pakistan, this October, on the retirement of the incumbent, Mr Justice Qazi Faez Isa, remaining at that post until his own retirement in August 2025. His resignation means that Mr Justice Mansoor Ali Shah will succeed Mr Justice Isa this October and remain in office until his own retirement in October 2027. Mr Justice Ejaz was elevated after serving as Chief vJustice of the Lahore High Court. Mr Justice Naqvi was also elevated from the LHC. The former Chief Justice, Mr Justice Umar Ata Bandial, had also been elevated from the LHC, so there are now three vacancies on the Supreme Court which are supposed to be filled by judges of the Lahore High Court.Mr Justice Isa has been known to want the setting of criteria for elevations, both to the Supreme Court and the high courts. It will be interesting to see if he tries to fill the vacancies before April, for by then the senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, will have retired. Following the seniority principle means the elevation of Mr Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti of the LHC, but if the Chief Justice delays beyond April, Mr Justice Bhatti would have retired. While the appointment of a retired high court judge to the Supreme Court has happened, it would be unusual.
Mr Justice Ijaz and Mr Justice Naqvi shared a common reputation for having assisted Chief Justice Bandial in Supreme Court judgements which went against the PML(N) and favoured the PTI. Mr Justice Ijaz did not give any reason in his resignation letter, but he had written a detailed letter to other members of the Supreme Judicial Council about the proceedings against Mr Justice Naqvi on a complaint of owning more property than could be explained. Mr Justice Naqvi had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the SJC proceedings. It might be remembered that Chief Justice Isa himself had filed such a petition himself and succeeded in having SJC proceedings stopped. However, Mr Justice Naqvi’s petition was dismissed.
THe judiciary’s internal crisis, which started with the reference against Mr Justice Isa, seems to be reaching a decision point. However, it is up to Mr Justice Isa to lead the institution carefully at this point, so that the resignation of two Supreme Court judges does not lead to a loss of public confidence in the ultimate earthly arbiter.
