ISLAMABAD: Former chief justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani recused from the Commission, constituted by the federal government to probe the allegations levelled by six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

In a one-page letter, to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the former CJP thanked him and the cabinet for reposing confidence in him to head the commission. “I am also grateful to the CJP Qazi Faiz Isa and senior puisne judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah for expressing confidence in me,” added the letter.

However, ex-CJP Jilani wrote: “Since the letter (IHC judges) is addressed to the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and its chairman the Chief Justice of Pakistan, it would be violative of judicial propriety for me to inquire into a matter which may fall within the jurisdiction of a constitutional body which is the Supreme Judicial Council or the Supreme Court of Pakistan itself”.

He further wrote that the terms of the reference for the inquiry are not “strictly” relevant to the subject under consideration. The request made in the letter is for an “institutional consultation”, with the terms of the mechanism suggested in the letter, he added.

The ex-CJP maintained that the letter may not strictly fall within the parameters of Article 209 of the Constitution. He, therefore, declined to head the commission and proceed with the inquiry.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024