While seated on the Supreme Court, Jillani refused to take oath under General Pervez Musharraf during emergency rule in 2007, and his post was rendered nonfunctional.

[11][12] On 7 November 2007, Jillani was one of the senior justices who refused to take a fresh oath of office, following the imposition of emergency rule by military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

Prime Minister Gilani announced that President Asif Zardari had issued an executive order that restored the pre-Emergency judiciary, including the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

[19][20] Immediately after his oath, Justice Jillani declined special security protocol, and directed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar not to impose restrictions on commuters during his passage.

[21] He also took suo motu action against the court administration for allowing only one news channel to exclusively cover the full-court reference in honour of the outgoing Justice Chaudhry.

The decision's expansion of freedom of religious expression in Pakistan has been compared to Brown v. Board of Education outlawing segregation in the United States.

The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.

In July 2008, when Senior Justice Jillani was invited by the American Bar Association to receive and accept the Rule of Law Award on behalf of those judges of Pakistan who demonstrated courage in upholding the Rule of Law in the country, he penned: In Pakistan, if one were to distinguish a headline from a trend line in assessing change, the recent events are a pointer to a moral renaissance and augur well for the spiritual health of the nation.

The assertion of the judicial conscience, the rise of a vibrant Bar, a vigilant civil society, and the emergence of an independent media would ultimately lead to the establishment of a constitutional democracy, stable political institutions, and an expanded enforcement of the Rule of Law.

These to me are the trend lines that I would like to pin my hopes on...Jillani was considered a liberal and progressive judge, and at times described as the most moderate member of the Supreme Court.

[27] When a biographical documentary on him was aired on news channels, a retired librarian of the Supreme Court building, Muhammad Aslam, quoted that "Justice Jillani managed the affairs of the library and made sure to add thousands of new judicial and non-judicial books to its shelves.