Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has shown his determination to continue taking suo motu notices on matters of public interest.
“I will keep taking suo motu notices on education, clean drinking water or health issues,” he remarked during the hearing of a case pertaining to pensions. He observed that no work is done unless he takes notice of it. He recalled that he had recently helped a student receive Rs 10 million owed by a private university.
The chief justice remarked that those who wanted to criticise suo motu notices can continue to do so but “I will keep taking notices in public interest.”
As many as 185 cases related to human rights and 58 cases on which suo motu notices had been taken were pending before the apex court till January 31, 2018.
The CJP has taken suo motu notices of multiple cases during the last couple of months. The brutal rape and murder of a minor girl in Kasur shook the nation, forcing the CJP to take notice of the incident, leading to swift progress in the case.
He took suo motu notice of the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in an ‘encounter’ in Karachi by former SSP Rao Anwar. The top judge also took notices of the killing of Asma Rani in Kohat and four-year-old Aasma in Mardan.
Published in Daily Times, April 14th 2018.
