Islamabad: Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, who tried to cultivate the image of being the “people’s judge” and known for his judicial activism, retired on Thursday.
The outgoing chief justice passed several landmark judgements during his tenure as top judge including one which disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017 in a corruption case and the verdict in the blasphemy case against Christian woman Asia Bibi.
Justice Nisar was sworn in as the top judge on December 31, 2016. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will take over the reins of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday when he will be administered the oath by President Arif Alvi. Justice Nisar has been a judge of the apex court since Feb 18, 2010.
Before that he was a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC). A full court reference in honour of the retiring Chief Justice Nisar was held in the Supreme Court. I was attended by all Supreme Court judges — with the exception of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah — as well as Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor, retired senior judges as well as senior journalists, among others.
Addressing the gathering, Justice Nisar said the top court has passed many landmark verdicts. He said he tried to solve the issues plaguing sectors of health and education, both of which are rights granted to citizens by the Constitution.
“The job of judges is extremely difficult. Corruption within the judiciary is the murder of justice. I worked within the code of conduct for judges and it is my honour to have served the nation,” he said.
Addressing the full court reference, chief justice-designate Khosa said Chief Justice Nisar faced many constitutional, societal and political challenges during his tenure and headed the judiciary in “very difficult circumstances”.
Outlining his plan for his upcoming tenure as top judge, Justice Khosa said that he will ensure the quick dispensation of justice. Referring to Justice Nisar’s efforts to raise donations to build the Diamer-Bhasha dams, Justice Khosa said that he too he wanted to build a dam. (PTI)
