Supreme Court gives verdict over plea against holding dual offices by CJP

Supreme Court gives verdict over plea against holding dual offices by CJP

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court gives verdict over plea against holding dual offices by Chief Justice of Pakistan.

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday rejected a plea against holding of dual offices by the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).

The CJP is also chairman of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC), constituted under Ordinance (LXXI) of 2002. The chief justices of all the high courts are members of that committee.

The same committee had also introduced the National Judicial Policy during the tenure of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. But the committee was not much active during the terms of his successors. However, the last CJP, Asif Saeed Khosa, made it effective by establishing model courts and district police complaints cell.

The law, which allows the CJP to hold dual offices, was challenged by Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi, who is known to challenge the appointments of top functionaries. Last year, the same petitioner had challenged the army chief’s extension. Later, his request to withdraw the petition was turned down by the SC.

During the tenure of former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar, Rahi had approached the apex court against the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa.