Umar Ata Bandial – Pakistan’s 28th Chief Justice – is generally known in legal circles as a man who walks the talk. Soft-spoken, balanced and moderate both in his words and actions, Chief Justice Bandial carries the reputation of a judge, who gives patient hearing to each and every case that is brought before him.

He advocates the rule of law and demonstrated the same when he refused to take oath under the second Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) issued by former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in 2007.

Born in Lahore on Sept. 17, 1958, Justice Bandial received elementary and secondary education from different schools in Kohat, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and of course the city of his birth. He secured a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Columbia University, followed by a Law Tripos degree from Cambridge and qualified as a barrister-at-law from the prestigious Lincoln’s Inn, London – the same institution from where Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah took his law degree.

In 1983, he was enrolled as an advocate of the Lahore High Court (LHC), and a few years later, as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

While practicing law in Lahore, Justice Bandial mostly dealt with commercial, banking, tax and property matters. After 1993, he also handled international commercial disputes and appeared in arbitration matters before the Supreme Court and various international arbitral tribunals in London and Paris.

He was elevated to the LHC as judge on Dec. 4, 2004. Justice Bandial was one of those judges, who refused to retake oath under the PCO of November 2007 when General Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency.

However, he was restored as a judge as a result of the lawyers’ movement for the revival of the judiciary. Justice Bandial then served as the chief justice of the LHC for two years until his elevation as a judge of the apex court in June 2014.

During his career in the superior judiciary, Justice Bandial has written a number of important judgments on issues of public and private interest, while adjudicating civil and commercial disputes, constitutional rights and public interest matters.

Justice Bandial also taught contract law and torts law at the Punjab University Law College, Lahore until 1987 and remained a member of its graduate studies committee, while serving as the LHC judge.

According to some legal experts, as a judge, he has written a number of verdicts to uphold the rule of law and justice. They hoped that as the CJP, he would enhance his reputation. They said that the new CJ believes in dispensation of justice keeping in mind human interest and fundamental rights.

The Supreme Court Bar Association’s former secretary, Shamim-ur-Rehman Malik showered praise on CJP Bandial, saying that he always gives patient hearing and treats lawyers with respect.

“He always conducts the court proceedings with dignity and grace,” Malik said. “Justice Bandial is the staunch believer in the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution.”

Malik said that all the other judges should follow in the footsteps of their chief so that the real purpose of dispensation of justice could be achieved with a cordial relationship between the bar and the bench.  “He has always delivered decisions in accordance with the Constitution and law. Justice Bandial would bring revolutionary changes to revamp the judicial system.”

Justice Bandial was also the head of the 10-member bench hearing Justice Qazi Faez Isa case. This decision, which has become an example in law books, was issued under his chairmanship, Malik added.

Pakistan Bar Council’s former vice chairman Amjad Ali Shah hoped that Justice Bandial would play an effective role in the judicial system. He said there are three major challenges for the new chief justice. “The first challenge is to deal with thousands of pending cases in the courts; the second is to address the huge shortage of judges and the third is to restore the effective relationship and trust between the bar and the bench.”

According to Shah, lawyers hope that Justice Bandial could overcome these challenges.

Speaking at the full court reference held in honor of former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Bandial said he was aware of these challenges. He termed the “scandalization” of judges and the large number of pending cases as major issues facing the judiciary.

He spoke in detail about the difficulties faced by the higher judiciary during the tenure of Justice Gulzar and criticised the mainstream and social media for attacking judges instead of criticizing their decisions. “We all have a lot of respect for each other in our hearts and differences of opinion are beyond our personal identity. But some observers in the media have taken on the responsibility of scandalising judges rather than criticizing court decisions, especially on social media,” he said.

The chief justice said that such conduct was not only unprofessional and uncivilized but also “unconstitutional” and something had to be done about it.

Referring to the detailed verdict in Justice Qazi Faez Isa case, he said it was heard by 10 judges for 17 months. He said the case was concluded in about 60 hearings and the regular cause list had to be reduced for a large bench hearing on such days.

Justice Bandial said that during this period, the case load increased from about 42,000 cases in December 2019 to about 50,000 cases in April 2021. However, the court worked hard for a long time and sometimes ignored even health concerns.

Coining the idea of performance audits of all courts, including the apex court, to identify and remedy weaknesses, Justice Bandial called on the legal fraternity to help save the court’s time by ensuring a greater reliance on written briefs, concise statements and skeleton arguments by counsel and an end to the culture of seeking adjournments.

In the criminal cases, he said, failed prosecutions are the result of faulty investigations and a failure to collect valuable evidentiary material. Better training and improved coordination of investigation and prosecuting authorities would enable them to bring successful prosecutions to court, he said.

According to Abid Saqi, former vice chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, the elevation of Justice Bandial as the top judge will lead to better relations between the bench and the bar “as he is a judge who decides on merit.”

As a judge in the Supreme Court, Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard various cases and was also part of the bench which had declared Prime Minister Imran Khan as “honest” and “trustworthy”.

A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial dismissed all the review petitions against dismissal of government employees with a majority decision of 4-1. “There is sanctity of the Constitution which we have a responsibility to uphold. We cannot make a decision that contradicts the Constitution and the law,” the ruling said.  Employee issues are a matter of human compassion. The government has the authority to provide relief on any humanitarian issue.

The bench had directed the government to restore 16,000 employees on compassionate ground.

He was the head of a 10-member SC bench which had thrown out the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa with a majority of 9-1, terming it “invalid”.

However, seven of the 10 judges ordered the Inland Revenue Department and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to seek explanations from the judge’s wife and children on the nature and source of funding for their three properties in the United Kingdom and submit a report to the SC registrar. Later, the review petitions of Justice Isa were accepted and the order pertaining to the FBR inquiry into his spouse assets was also recalled.

Justice Bandial was also the part of a five-member bench which ruled that disqualification under article 62(1)(f) would be for lifelong. The judgment hit Nawaz Sharif, Jahangir Tareen and 79 other politicians.

Justice Bandial also held that only the chief Justice of Pakistan has the power to take suo motu notice. He had raised the issue as the acting chief justice after Justice Qazi Isa had taken a suo motu notice of the abduction and torture of journalists and summoned the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) chief.

This year, five judges of the Supreme Court will retire after completing their tenure and the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) will recommend the appointment of judges to the vacant seats. The JCP will be headed by Chief Justice Bandial.

Justice Bandial will serve in the top judicial office till September 16, 2023, when he is due to be replaced by Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

According to the scheme list, Justice Isa will be CJP until October 25, 2024. He will be succeeded by Justice Ijazul Ahsan. Then, on August 4, 2025, the post will go to Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.

Justice Shah will remain in office till November 27, 2027 and will be succeeded by Justice Munib Akhtar. Justice Yahya Afridi will be the country’s next top judge from December 14, 2028 until January 22, 2030