A letter from Supreme Court Registrar Jazeela Aslam to Supreme Court Bar Association President Shahzad Shaukat, which is available on Dawn.com, revealed the new information.
After CJP Isa retires, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah is the next in line to be the country’s top judge.
There have been rumors since August that the government intended to extend CJP Isa’s term. Some insiders in the ruling coalition had said that important changes were coming. A source had stated that the amendments would be included in a supplementary agenda, without providing further details, indicating that they may pertain to a uniform increase in the retirement age of superior court judges.
Any such move has been opposed by the opposition, and PTI founder Imran Khan has threatened a nationwide protest if the chief justice’s term is extended.
In a casual talk with correspondents in Islamabad in the wake of addressing a full court to check the start of the new legal year, CJP Isa was gotten some information about his purportedly consenting to an expansion “in the event that it was applied to all adjudicators”.
Rana Sanaullah, the political advisor to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, claimed that CJP Isa would accept the proposal if the age limit for all judges was raised. The top judge had reiterated that he had rejected any extension of his term.
Nonetheless, the High Court had accordingly lamented that “an off-the-record discussion between CJP Isa and columnists” was pointlessly and generally erroneously revealed and distributed, bringing about “inappropriate drama”.
“Giving unnecessary attention and importance to individuals detracts from what was important — institutions — and it be ensured that they serve the people,” according to a press release signed by Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmad, Secretary of the CJP.
Biography: CJP Isa is the son of the late Qazi Mohammad Isa of Pishin, who was at the forefront of the Pakistan Movement and a close associate of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was born on October 26, 1959, in Quetta.
After returning from London, CJP Isa’s father helped establish the All India Muslim League in Balochistan. He was the first person from the province to earn a Bar-at-Law degree. His father had been the only Balochistani member of the All India Muslim League’s Central Working Committee.
CJP Isa’s mother, social worker Begum Saida Isa, served on honorary boards of hospitals and other charitable organizations focusing on education, children, and women’s health.
Isa moved to Karachi after completing his primary and secondary education in Quetta to attend the Karachi Grammar School (KGS) for his O and A levels. After that, he went to London to study law, passing the Inns of Court School of Law, London Bar Professional Examination.
CJP Isa joined the Balochistan High Court as an advocate on January 30, 1985, and the Supreme Court as an advocate in March 1998.
He has practiced law in front of Pakistan’s High Courts, Federal Shariat Court, and Supreme Court for more than 27 years. He joined the Sindh High Court Bar Association, the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, and the Pakistani Supreme Court Bar Association as a Life Member.
He assisted in some complicated cases when he was called upon as amicus curiae by the Supreme Court and the High Court from time to time. Additionally, he has handled international arbitration.
CJP Isa was sworn in as Pakistan’s 29th chief justice for 13 months on September 17, 2023, after swearing in as a judge on September 5, 2014.
He and his wife make their home in Islamabad, where they have two children and a granddaughter.
