Islamabad:
The judge since the superior of the Supreme Court, judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, wrote a letter to chief judge Yahya Afridi, exhorting him to respond publicly to a series of pressing institutional questions at the next judicial conference on September 8, 2025.
The letter, entitled “pressing institutional concerns”, extends over seven pages, has raised serious concerns concerning transparency, judicial independence, collegiality and internal functioning of the Supreme Court.
Judge Mansoor stresses that the problems he highlights are not personal grievances, but result from a “deep commitment to legal work” and the integrity of the institution. “As the most high-end judge of this court after yourself, I write this letter with reluctance, but in discharge of an inevitable institutional obligation,” wrote Judge Mansoor.
Judge Mansoor has listed six specific questions for the Afridian judge to respond publicly during the judicial conference, by focusing on the relaxation of the Papa Committee, the revision of the 1980 rules without complete legal debate, the issuance of the permanent general ordinance, the failure to fix the petitions contesting the 26th amendment to the original full court and the overall independence of the judiciary.
Among the main questions, Judge Mansoor stressed that legal lists and benches training were issued unilaterally, bypassing the compulsory consultation.
Judge Mansoor stressed that his repeated letters and his written communications to the chief judge on the issues had remained unanswered, adding: “Such silence of the chief judge to the highest judge of the court is not simply discourtois; This undermines the collegial traditions of this court. ”
He also criticized the recent revision of the rules of the Supreme Court, 1980, declaring that it had been adopted by traffic rather than a complete justice meeting – an act he deemed a “lack of collegiality and preferably for the unilateral authority”.
Judge Mansoor challenged the policy of soliciting dissenting opinions via written communication, appealing to the “tick box exercise” which deprived the court of rich deliberations. He also condemned the permanent general ordinance (GSO) on leave issued in July 2025, which ranks judges as “full -time” civil servants.
“The judges are not regimening officers; their independence is constitutionally anchored,” he said.
He described the requirements of the GSO – to disclose the residential address of a judge and to limit the categories of leave – as “surveillance” which undermines the dignity and independence of the judiciary.
Perhaps the most serious accusation comes in the section on the legitimacy of the Court itself, where judge Mansoor asked why petitions contesting the 26th constitutional amendment – which affect the very independence of the judiciary – has remained unknown for almost a year.
“The real leadership does not reside in compliance management, but to ensure that the Court goes beyond suspicion as a intrepid guardian of the Constitution,” he wrote.
The letter marks one of the most open and institutional confrontations in the recent history of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Its tone, its content and the call for public responsibility reflect an increasing dissatisfaction within the judiciary on the centralization of administrative powers under the Chief Judge.
Judge Mansoor put an end to the letter by urging the chief judge to use the judicial conference as “a moment of institutional renewal” and to reaffirm “the principles of collegiality and constitutional loyalty”.
