Islamabad:
It was a scene rarely observed in front of the highest courtyard in the country. Friday, five judges of the High Court of Islamabad (IHC) entered the Supreme Court not by the usual rear channels but side by side with the public, creating a view that mixed the drama with symbolism.
After having deposited their national identity cards at the reception and placed visitors around their necks, the judges made their way through the same entrance used by ordinary liters. A crowd of mobile telephony cameras, already in place, has captured each step.
The five judges – judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, judge Babar Sattar, judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, judge Sardar Ejaz Ishaq and judge Saman Rafat – may have appeared without an official announcement, but their arrival was not a total surprise.
An unusual number of journalists were already waiting in the court premises, despite the fact that no political case was registered that day, and no eminent leader was expected.
Choosing a public road, the judges of the IHC crossed the courtyard and settled in the facilitation center of the Supreme Court. There, everyone finished the biometric verification and signed constitutional petitions. For more than half an hour, the judges were sitting on the wooden wooden benches, cutting an occasional conversation with the staff.
Between the light gossip, the judges asked when their calls would be fixed.
The staff explained that cases are generally set within 8 to 14 days, although objections may require a personal appearance.
Judge Tariq Jahangiri responded with a suspicion of irony: “It’s good, we will come. In any case, it seems that we are going to go and go often.”
