Justice Minallah | Pakistan

Supreme Court (SC) Justice Athar Minallah has written an emphatic letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, calling for the convening of a conference to consider threats to the judiciary while also lamenting the use of the apex court as an instrument to suppress the people’s will by “unelected elite”, it emerged on Tuesday. The development comes as the government is making moves for the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment. The bill, which has been passed by the Senate, seeks crucial changes to a number of articles, mostly dealing with the judiciary and the military leadership. In the seven-page letter, which Dawn has seen, Justice Minallah said that the missive was being recorded as a “solemn duty to the Constitution and to place on record for future generations how their destiny was being shaped behind the marble walls of the last resort of justice”. He said that it was being written in the wake of recent events, which had greatly eroded public confidence in the judiciary. “Institution...

Supreme Court judge Justice Athar Minallah on Friday termed extra-judicial killings, custodial torture and the excessive use of force as the most “intolerable crimes” in a democratic society, calling them the “worst form of violation” of the Constitution. In his dissenting note on the court’s judgement issued in a case pertaining to the killing of Mohammad Hayat Mirza, a Karachi University student, in Turbat, Justice Minallah said that there can be “no tolerance” for such acts and conduct by law enforcement agencies and its member. In 2020, police arrested a soldier of the Frontier Corps (FC), Shadiullah, on charges of killing Mirza and started an investigation after registering a case against him. The case was registered against the suspect on the complaint of Mohammad Murad Baloch, the brother of the deceased. The convicted had appealed to the SC following his sentencing by a trial court. The trial court, in a judgment on January 20, 2021, convicted the appellant under Section 302(b) (premeditated murder) o...

Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah on Thursday said that the talk of a “hybrid system” prevalent in the country actually amounted to an admission to the presence of a dictatorship. What had previously only been a term coined by analysts to describe the unique system of governance currently in vogue, is now apparently being worn as a badge of honour. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had in July spoken in glowing terms about the ‘hybrid regime’ that currently runs the country. The term is used to describe the informal power-sharing arrangement, whereby the country’s military holds a great deal of influence on the incumbent civilian setup and has a big say in the way the affairs of the state are managed. In remarks on the issue while addressing the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) today, Justice Minallah said: “It is something to accept that people today say there is a hybrid system, that [actually] means there is dictatorship and there is no constitutional governance.” He blamed what he said was the “lack of consti...

Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah on Saturday elaborated on the difficulties judges faced regarding cases of missing persons and enforced disappearances in the face of non-cooperation by the state and lawmakers. The judge was attending a documentary screening organised by rights group Defence for Human Rights Pakistan, where he delivered remarks to attendees and noted that cases regarding missing persons and disappearances were the most difficult he had come across. Addressing the gathering, Justice Minallah said that when he ordered that disappearances be investigated or missing people be found, “the authorities would come and they would all say that we don’t know where they are.” At this, the judge pointed out: “The judge and the court cannot do anything when you don’t have independent investigators.” Minallah added: “Every judge of the Supreme Court is responsible personally for every violation of fundamental rights that takes place in Pakistan.” The judge recounted an instance when he suddenly heard th...