Dismissed complaints against CJP Afridi made public

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi on Thursday made public the May 14 decisions of the Supreme Judicial Council, which dismissed five complaints against him lodged by different lawyers and litigants with the apex council.

During its May 14 meeting, the council considered and disposed of 23 different complaints in accordance with Article 209 of the Constitution against the superior court judges, including the CJP.

The council had decided to first take up matters concerning some of its own members. Accordingly, meetings were held with varying compositions in accordance with the relevant constitutional provisions.

The SJC unanimously dismissed one of the complaints filed by Advocate Mian Sibghatullah Shah from Peshawar. The gist of the allegation was that in 2016, the CJP, as a judge of the Peshawar High Court, did not adhere to merit in the selection of additional sessions judges and thus committed misconduct.

Likewise, the SJC took up another complaint by a Karachi resident, Amjad Hussain Durrani, who had alleged that his case was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Jan 12, 2022, by a bench of which the CJP was a member, without affording a fair opportunity of a hearing to the petitioner, which amounted to misconduct. The SJC also rejected the complaint.

Similarly, Advocate Ajmal Mahmood had moved a complaint stating that through a Dec 3, 2024 office order of the Supreme Court, the previously imposed ban restricting his entry into the SC and its branch registries was further extended by the CJP, which amounted to misconduct. The council rejected the complaint.

In yet another complaint, Kamran Khan from Karachi had alleged that the SJC dismissed a previous complaint submitted by him unlawfully and without affording him an opportunity of a hearing, which amounted to misconduct. This complaint was also rejected.

The SJC also dismissed the complaint of Muhammad Asif Masood, accusing that the decision of an appeal rendered by an SC bench on March 28, 2023, of which the CJP was a member, was against the law and facts, which amounted to misconduct. The complaints against the CJP were reviewed by a meeting of the reconstituted council, chaired by Federal Constitutional Court CJ Aminuddin Khan. The rest of the complaints on May 14 were determined by the CJP-led SJC.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2026