- Judge Minallah wished the courts were open when prime ministers were overthrown.
- He says the channel created a situation as if martial law were going to be imposed.
- Justice says he ordered IHC to remain open 24/7 when he was CJ.
Supreme Court Judge Athar Minallah has expressed his desire that courts remain open whenever there is a threat of martial law being imposed in Pakistan.
The country has witnessed a total of three martial laws (1958-1971, 1977-1988 and 1999-2008) over the decades since its independence in 1947.
Judge Minallah, speaking at a New York City Bar Association event, said, “I wish that whenever there is a threat of martial law, the courts would remain open.”
The judge's response came in response to a question, when a participant at the event asked him why he opened the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on April 9, 2022, at midnight, the day former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from power.
The judge, who served as Chief Justice of India from 2018 to 2022, told the participant that when he was appointed to the top post, he issued a circular stating that the apex court would function 24/7.
He said he had established a procedure whereby, regardless of the time, anyone could submit a petition, which would then be sent to the then IHC Chairman via WhatsApp, whether it was 3 or 4 in the morning.
“1,400 people benefited from that circular. Nobody knows anything about them because they were not politicians, they were ordinary people. Only the Islamabad High Court did so. The high court was open to everyone,” Justice Minallah said.
He added that the media had made a mistake in reporting that he had been brought to the high court. “I was in my pajamas.” […] “When I was informed that Supreme Court Bar Association President Ahsan Bhoon wanted to file a petition, but all the petitions were frivolous and I did not issue any order.”
Judge Minallah added that while he was at home, a private television channel broadcast that he had arrived at the high court and he regretted this development.
“My wife told me this […] And I said, really? He added that if he had given any order, people might question his integrity, but he did not resort to any such measures. “Despite that, a political narrative was created.”
“[A private television] “The channel created a situation as if martial law was going to be imposed,” the senior jurist said, referring to the news that was aired amid the session on the no-confidence motion against then Prime Minister Khan in April 2022.
“I wish that whenever there is a threat of martial law, the courts would remain open. I wish they were open on July 5, when General Ziaul Haq sacked an elected prime minister. I wish they were open on October 12, when General Pervez Musharraf sacked an elected prime minister.”
“If someone had tried to unconstitutionally remove a hitherto elected Prime Minister, Imran Khan, then it would have been a test for the Islamabad High Court, irrespective of whether it upholds the Constitution or not.”
