ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court of Pakistan witnessed another dramatic situation as senior judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah seeks answers from Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi, on the inner workings of the country’s apex court.
Justice Shah shows displease of showing “persistent indifference” to his repeated attempts at dialogue. “This is not a personal grievance,” he wrote, “but an unavoidable institutional duty.”
Justice Shah asked that these questions be addressed openly at the judicial conference on September 8, the start of the new judicial year, when reforms and priorities will be assessed under the CJP’s leadership.
Among the explosive queries raised are:
- Why has the legally mandated PaPA Committee never been convened to decide bench formations under the 2023 Act?
- Why was the revision of the 1980 Rules rushed through circulation instead of debate in a Full Court?
- Why are dissenting opinions being handled through individual consultations rather than open court discussions?
- Why was a controversial General Standing Order on leave issued that curtails judicial independence?
- Why have challenges to the 26th Amendment still not been heard by the original Full Court?
- And most critically — is the judiciary being nurtured to act independently, or is it being forced into compliance, turning the apex court into a “regimented force” instead of a bench of free and equal judges?
The letter has sent shockwaves through legal and political circles, with many seeing it as a direct challenge to the CJP’s leadership and a rare public airing of deep institutional rifts within the Supreme Court.
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