LAHORE: Warning that judges who were involved in corruption or exceeding their constitutional domain would face action, the PM’s aide on accountability Irfan Qadir said on Saturday that both serving and retired judges could be held accountable for their actions.

Addressing a press conference at Governor House, he told the judiciary that it should not pursue ‘a parallel agenda’ and urged it to conduct hearings into the allegations levelled against a former chief justice, as well as a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

Lamenting a lack of action against ex-CJP Saqib Nisar, Mr Qadir said the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) appeared to have become “completely ineffective”.

Mr Qadir also advised Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to remove differences among his judges.

Irfan Qadir calls on CJP to remove differences among SC judges; says Supreme Judicial Council rendered ‘ineffective’

“The SJC’s performance slowed down when the petition against Saqib Nisar was moved. The SJC can remove a judge if he fails to decide a case. A senior judge should take the case of the fellow judge,” he said.

“Let me tell you that the state has to take along all institutions and if one of them (Supreme Court) acts in isolation, it will not be treated as a holy cow,” he said, adding that new judges should replace the ones who were facing allegations.

Mr Qadir said there had been strong reservations about the decisions of the judiciary.

“The SJC, which is meant for accountability of the judges, has been rendered ineffective. We want that the judiciary should conduct a hearing into the allegations against Saqib Nisar and a sitting judge of the Supreme Court,” he said.

The prime minister’s special assistant said that judges who violated the law and Constitution and interfered in the matters of other institutions could not be tolerated.

Talking about audio leaks of sitting and former judges and corruption stories of a sitting judge of the apex court, Mr Qadir said the benches at someone’s will could not be made in such cases to give relief to the accused.

He said former chief justice Saqib Nisar weakened the judiciary and steps needed to be taken to make the Supreme Court strong and not about an individual.

To a question, Mr Qadir said it was PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif who would decide to file an appeal against the decisions against him in corruption and other cases. He said Mr Sharif was disqualified for a lifetime on iqama (work permit), which was illegal.

Replying to another question about the May 9 violence, Mr Qadir said there was no illegality in trying civilians in military courts.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2023