The federal cabinet has removed Supreme Court Registrar, Ishrat Ali, from his post after a hard-hitting letter from Justice Qazi Faez Isa, asking the authorities to remove him from office. The decision was taken during a special meeting of the federal cabinet, which was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. The meeting was held to consider a two-point agenda and received a briefing from Minister for Law Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar and Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan.
The issue examined by the cabinet was the issuance of a circular by the registrar against the order of the Supreme Court. Following this, Ali was asked to report to the Establishment Division. The cabinet also asked President Dr Arif Alvi to immediately sign the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act 2023 so that the country could be taken out of the constitutional and political crisis.
Justice Isa, strongly reacting to the March 31 circular issued by the Supreme Court Registrar Office “disregarding” a judgement issued by a three-member bench, earlier in the day asked the Establishment Division to immediately remove Ali to prevent him from further “damaging the reputation and integrity” of the top court. A special apex court bench, with a two-to-one majority on March 29, ordered suspending all suo motu cases under Article 184(3) of the Constitution until amendments are made to the Supreme Court Rules 1980 regarding the discretionary powers of the chief justice to form benches.
In a letter to the top court’s registrar, the senior puisne judge said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan cannot issue administrative direction against the judicial order. He further wrote that the registrar’s conduct demonstrated that he did not have the requisite competence, ability, and understanding to hold the office of Registrar. Moreover, a bureaucrat holding the office of the Registrar violates Article 175(3) of the Constitution, which mandates the complete separation of the judiciary from the executive.
The senior judge asked the registrar to withdraw the circular immediately and inform all those who had set it, adding that it was in the best interest of him and that of the Supreme Court. Justice Isa maintained that the circular refers to a decision of the SC, adding, “If you had read it, you would have realized that it pertained to invoking powers under Article 184 (3) of the constitution (suo motu). However, in the subject case suo motu notice had not been taken by the bench before which it was listed for hearing on March 15, 2023. You lost sight of this obvious distinction and did not appreciate that the case cited in the circular was not applicable.”
The SC registrar “apparently violated the Constitution”, Justice Isa noted and urged the authorities to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him in accordance with the applicable laws. The federal cabinet approved the withdrawal of the services of Registrar Supreme Court Ishrat Ali in its special sitting Monday.
After the briefing by Federal Minister of Law and Justice Nazir Tarar, other members of the federal cabinet also gave their opinion on the expected decision of the Supreme Court. The federal cabinet has also approved funds of Rs 71 billion under Rekodic dispute settlement. The funding of the Rekodic project will be done for the Balochistan government.
In conclusion, the federal cabinet has taken swift action to address the issue of the Supreme Court Registrar, Ishrat Ali, following a hard-hitting letter from Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The cabinet examined the issue of issuance of a circular by the registrar against the order of the Supreme Court, and Ali was asked to report to the Establishment Division. The cabinet also approved funds for the Rekodic dispute settlement and organized short-term financial facilities for Recodek. Overall, this decision will help to
