ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial stood retired on Saturday and the Chief Justice-designate Justice Qazi Faez Isa will take oath to his office today (Sunday).
Justice Isa’s nomination as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan was approved by President Dr Arif Alvi on June 21. He will be sworn in by the President as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan.
Justice Isa has been provided security as per the law.
The outgoing Chief Justice Bandial expressed best wishes for his successor. He has also vacated his official residence at Judges Colony in Islamabad.
Justice Bandial has served as the top judicial office for over 19 months as he was appointed on Feb 2, 2022, though his notification had been issued on Jan 17.
Whereas, Justice Isa will serve as chief justice for over a year, until Oct 25, 2024. He took the oath as a Supreme Court judge on Sept 5, 2014.
It is pertinent to mention here that President Alvi had filed a reference of misconduct against Justice Isa in the Supreme Judicial Council in May 2019 on the recommendation of then Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.
However, a 10-judge Supreme Court bench led by Justice Bandial set aside the presidential reference against Justice Isa in June 2020, absolving him of the charge of misconduct for allegedly not revealing three offshore companies in the name of his wife and children.
Consequently, the proceedings against Justice Isa pending in the SJC also stood terminated.
However, the apex court then ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to conduct an inquiry into the allegations of non-declaration of foreign assets.
Later in an exciting turn of events, the Supreme Court in April 2021, by a majority of six to four, overturned its June 2020 order that required verification and subsequent findings by the tax authorities on three foreign properties after accepting his review petition.
Justice Isa was born on October 26, 1959 in Quetta. In his early years, he was a part of the Bar of England and Wales in the 1980s and was enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court from Balochistan. He has practiced law for over 27 years before all the high courts, the Federal Shariat Court and the Supreme Court. Later, he also served as a member of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, Sindh High Court Bar Association, and Life Member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, and chief justice of Balochistan during different periods.
