ISLAMABAD: Immediately after taking oath as the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday constituted a five-judge larger bench to hear the Panamagate case.
The five-judge bench which will hear the Panama case on January 4 will be headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. The bench also comprises of Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmad,Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh and Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan.
Interestingly, Justice Amir Hani Muslim who was a part of the earlier proceedings in Panamagate case has not been included in the new bench. The SC in November took up a slew of petitions seeking PM Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification in the wake of Panama Papers, which in April revealed that the PM’s family members had stashed money in offshore companies. Earlier Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took oath as 25th Chief Justice of Pakistan for two years, eighteen days. President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the Justice Saqib Nisar at Aiwan-e-Sadr. The simple but impressive ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Federal Ministers, Chiefs of the three services, judges of the supreme court, parliamentarians, diplomats and senior officials.
Later, Chief Justice, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar called on President Mamnoon Hussain. The President congratulated Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on his appointment as Chief Justice of Pakistan and wished him well in discharge of his new responsibilities. The entire oath taking ceremony and the oath was conducted and administered in national language Urdu. After the swearing in ceremony and meeting with the President, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar started duties at the Supreme Court. He has important cases before him including the reconstitution of the Bench on Panama Leaks. Justice Nisar has replaced Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali who retired on Friday after serving as chief justice for 15 months since his appointment in September 2015. In April this year, Justice Nisar served as the acting CJP in the absence of Chief Justice Jamali who had gone to Turkey on a seven-day official visit. 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). Before being appointed as a judge, he was member of the Supreme Court Bar Association and Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA). He was elected as secretary general of the LHCBA in 1991.
Born on Jan 18, 1954, in Lahore, Justice Nisar did his matriculation from the Cathedral High School, Lahore, graduation from the Government College, Lahore, and bachelor of law from the University of Punjab in 1979-80.
He joined the legal profession as an advocate on May 2, 1980. He was enrolled as an advocate of the high court in 1982 and advocate of the Supreme Court in 1994.
He was elevated as the judge of the high court on May 22, 1998, and of the Supreme Court on Feb 18, 2010.
He was appointed as the federal law secretary on March 29, 1997, when he became the first member of the bar to be appointed to the important position.
Justice Nisar represented Pakistan in an international conference held at the Wilton Park, United Kingdom, on the subject of “Pakistan and India at Fifty”.
He led a Pakistani delegation to a conference in Manila on the subject of “Asia Region Transitional Crimes”. He also attended conferences in Switzerland and Norway.
He had also been a part-time lecturer at the Punjab Law College and Pakistan College of Law, where he taught civil procedure code and the Constitution.—APP