Symbol of Integrity

As the PML-N leadership opens a front against members of the superior judiciary, ‘Bol News’ presents profiles of two of the honorable judges, who are known for their honesty, commitment to the rule of law and fair conduct.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan

Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan

Justice Ijazul Ahsan is among those judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who have been publicly accused by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz of “hatching a conspiracy” against former the premier Nawaz Sharif.

Justice Ahsan was part of the five-judge bench which on July 28, 2017 unanimously disqualified Nawaz Sharif due to his failure to disclose his ‘un-withdrawn receivables, constituting assets’ in his nomination papers filed ahead of the 2013 general elections, in what is described as a landmark judgment. He was also head of the bench which requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to take suo motu notice of delay in general election for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies.

One of the most senior and respected judges of the Supreme Court with an illustrious career, Justice Ahsan is in the line to become the chief justice of Pakistan on October 25, 2024.

Justice Ahsan attended the Punjab University’s Law College in Lahore where he won various awards, including a gold medal for academic achievements. He also secured the top position in the All-Pakistan Universities Summer Moot held at Khanaspur, Nathia Gali.

After completing LLB studies, he joined started his practice and completed apprenticeship in civil and criminal law. He proceeded to pursue postgraduate studies at Cornell University in New York and got a Master’s Degree in Law (LLM) in 1987.

On his return from the United States, he joined a reputable law firm of which he later became a partner. His law practice covered civil, banking, property, commercial and constitutional matters.

Defending his clients in a large number of cases before high courts as well as the top court, he also conducted a number of arbitrations involving local and multinational parties.

Justice Ahsan has also attended a number of local and international conferences and professional training courses, including those organised by the Asian Bar Association and the International Bar Association. He was awarded a Chevening scholarship by the British Council to study commercial law in the United Kingdom.

He also received a fellowship from the South Western Institute for International Studies at Dallas of which he is an alumnus. He also taught contract and commercial law for many years.

He was elevated to the bench on September 15, 2009. He was confirmed as a judge of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on May 11, 2011. During his tenure as an LHC judge, he attended the National Judicial Conference 2010; the National Conference on ADR; the International Judicial Conference; the National Judicial Conference, 2011 and the South Asia Conference on Environmental Justice.

He represented the LHC in various conferences and study visits to the United States, China and Japan. He served as an inspection judge for district Kasur, Gujranwala and Lahore.

Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi

Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan

Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi was also the member of the bench which sent the matter regarding elections for two provincial assemblies to CJP Bandial.

Hailing from the historic city of Gujranwala, Justice Naqvi is one the eminent judges in the field of criminal law and reckoned as the top jurist of the country. Belonging to a reputed Syed family, Justice Naqvi got early education from Gujranwala and did his law graduation from the Law College of the University of the Punjab,

He started his career as a lawyer and conducted more than 1,000 cases of importance before high courts, the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan, as well as, the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The focus of his legal practice has been pro-poor and pro-development. He was elevated as judge of the LHC on Feb 19, 2010. Justice Naqvi was elevated to the Supreme Court of Pakistan on March 16, 2020.

Unfortunately, a manipulated reference has been recently filed against him in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), accusing him of “misconduct” and “amassing illegitimate assets”.

However, the judicial sources have denied the allegations made in the reference. They said an audio clip of a telephonic conversation is being widely circulated on social media with a purpose to malign Justice Naqvi.

The audio in question is several months old and is a brief portion of a call between the then chief minister Parvez Elahi and Justice Naqvi concerning an incident that transpired on September 10, 2022.

Justice Naqvi was travelling in his official car, driving himself, when he was held up by a rather disrespectful traffic police warden near the Shadman U-Turn in Lahore.

The warden objected to the tinted-glass windows of the car and refused to let the vehicle go despite being repeatedly told that it was an official Supreme Court vehicle and that the tinted-glass was being used for security and protection.

A wireless communication was sent out to the police department and some senior officials personally arrived at the spot in under an hour.

Later the Principal Secretary to the CM paid a visit to Justice Naqvi and using his phone he requested that the judge speak to the CM, who wanted to apologize for what had happened.

Despite his resistance, the then-CM showed up shortly at Justice Naqvi’s official residence. It was a brief and open meeting, and the CM left in the presence of several witnesses from the Police Department. Now, that the audio is being made viral with a clear objective of blackmailing the judiciary, and manipulating the truth to diminish public confidence in one of the finest and most respectable judges of the Supreme Court.

Another smear campaign is also under way to target Justice Naqvi’s legal and just acquisition of a residential property in the year 2022.

The judge had sold two properties to pay for the purchase of a property at Lahore Cantt. A loan of Rs30 million was also obtained from the AGPR against his salary with the approval of the chief justice of Pakistan. The instalments of the loan are regularly being deducted from the judge’s monthly salary.

The registered sale deed was duly executed after the payment of all requisite official fees and taxes as evidenced by Justice Naqvi’s tax returns filed last year.

The “44 rupees” propaganda is baseless and preposterous – the registered deed, circulating on the media, is of an amount exceeding Rs100 million.

The property, registered in the name of the late owner was first transferred to the legal heirs, before being transferred to the name of the judge – as is the requirement of the law.