Former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani is always treated, and rightly so, with a lot reverence in view of his scholastic achievements in judiciary a happy demeanor that strongly characterizes his conduct.
According to media reports, he has recused himself from heading a one-man inquiry commission to probe allegations of interference by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs as the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the matter.
A letter addressed to PM Shehbaz yesterday, a purported copy of which was available on media, Jillani thanked the premier and the federal cabinet for reposing confidence in him to head the commission.
He also expressed gratitude to CJP Isa and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah for expressing confidence in him.
In my view, Justice Jillani has taken the right decision after the federal cabinet approved the constitution of an inquiry commission headed by him to probe the allegations and decide whether these are true or otherwise, and a large number of lawyers and others demanded the apex court initiate suo motu proceedings as they rejected the “powerless” one-man commission appointed by the federal cabinet to probe the claims.
In my view, however, the real reason behind lawyers’ opposition to the setting up of a commission was the question of summoning the on-job high court judges by a retired apex court judge, the chairman of the inquiry commission.
The honorable judges of the Islamabad High Court might have conveyed their reservations over this and possibly some other terms of reference of the inquiry commission through the bar as bench-bar relations constitute dynamic interaction and cooperation between the lawyers and the judges. But this supposition clearly falls within the realm of speculation, so to speak.
Since the apex court has taken the suo motu notice of the matter, the commission of inquiry had lost its relevance to the matter. Last but not least, more than any discipline, the discipline of Law long has prized creativity, originality, individuality, research and writing than the construction of predictive knowledge.
In my view, the incumbent apex court judges, including the CJP, and a retired chief justice of Pakistan are trying to expound upon this fact through their highly impressive and responsible conduct.
Junaid Shaheen (Karachi)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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