ISLAMABAD: Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Sunday took oath as the 29th chief justice of Pakistan, a day after his predecessor, Umar Ata Bandial, called it a day after reaching the age of superannuation.
At a simple yet impressive oath-taking ceremony which took place at the Presidency, President Dr Arif Alvi administered oath to the new chief justice.
In an unprecedented move, a jubilant Serena Isa, the wife of Justice Isa, who faced litigation in a 2019 presidential reference against the judge, specially went to the stage while holding a walking stick and stood next to her husband when the president started administering oath to him.
Justice Isa to take oath as CJP today
“I, Qazi Faez Isa, do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan, that as chief justice of Pakistan, I will discharge my duties and perform my functions, honestly, to the best of my ability, and faithfully, in accordance with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the law,” Justice Isa swore the oath to uphold the law and the constitution of the country.
“I will abide by the code of conduct issued by the Supreme Judicial Council, that I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions… May Allah Almighty help and guide me. Ameen”.
The caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir, former chief justices, lawyers, politicians and others also graced the occasion.
The apex court judges Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Yayha Afridi were also in attendance.
Ex-CJPs Iftikhar Chaudhry and Tassaduq Jillani were also present.
Born in Quetta in 1959, Chief Justice Isa is the son of the late Qazi Mohammad Isa of Pishin, who was at the forefront of the Pakistan Movement, and the grandson of Qazi Jalaluddin, the prime minister of the pre-partition Kalat state.
After completing his primary and secondary education in Quetta, Isa moved to Karachi to finish his ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from the Karachi Grammar School (KGS).
He then went on to study law from London, where he completed his Bar Professional Examination from the Inns of Court School Law, London.
Justice Isa enrolled as an advocate of Balochistan High Court on January 30, 1985, and as an Advocate Supreme Court in March 1998.
He has practiced law for over 27 years before the High Courts of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
He became a member of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, Sindh High Court Bar Association and Life Member of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.
Justice Isa took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on September 5, 2014.
Justice Isa’s judgments reflect a strong desire to adhere to the constitution and the rule of law, and to safeguard public interest.
The top judge faced a presidential reference, filed by the Imran Khan-led government – which according to Imran Khan, was sent on insistence of the then law minister Dr Farogh Naseem – in May 2019 that alleged Justice Isa had acquired multiple properties in London in the name of his wife and children from 2011 to 2015, but did not declare them in the statement of his assets.
Justice Isa had contested the allegations and maintained he was neither directly nor indirectly a beneficial owner of the flats.
In June 2020, a 10-member Supreme Court bench nullified the presidential reference against Justice Isa, but seven of the judges on the bench ordered revenue authorities to seek explanation from the judge’s wife and children on the source of funding for the said properties.
Justice Isa won the case in 2021, which rendered the entire exercise by revenue authorities null and void.
In April this year, Justice Isa faced criticism for his extraordinary move to attend a parliamentary session on the golden jubilee of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, with some opposition members and lawyers saying the constitution called for a distinction between the judiciary and the executive.
However, he justified his action and said the event was held to commemorate an important day in the country’s history and he was assured that no political speeches would be made during the session, and it would only discuss the constitution and its making.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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