Umar Ata Bandial

He was appointed as the Chief Justice after the approval by President Arif Alvi on 13 January 2022,[1] after which he assumed his office on 2 February 2022 and retired on 16 September 2023.

[citation needed] As a judge of the Lahore High Court, he presided over cases related to constitutional rights, civil and commercial disputes, and public interest.

[13][14] In his first month, he initiated reforms in various organs of the Supreme Court, including the Case Management System, to ensure provision of speedy justice.

He appointed Qazi Faez Isa, Sardar Tariq Masood, Ijazul Ahsan, Mazhar Alam, and Sajjad Ali Shah as the monitoring judges of the provincial anti-terrorism courts of Balochistan, Islamabad, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh, respectively.

"[20] Judges must not be seen as 'politicians in robes', says Justice Minallah[21] Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is also the Chairman of PPP said that Judicial dictatorship not acceptable.

[23] Former Sindh High Court Bar Association president Salahuddin Ahmed told Dawn that he is also of the opinion that the current conflict within the judiciary is fast heading towards a 1997-like situation.

[26] On 6 April 2023, The National Assembly passed a resolution to reject the decision of the three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) — which had instructed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct snap polls in the country.

[31] Justice Qazi Mentioned in the letter that the bureaucratic holding of the office of the Registrar violates Article 175 (3) of the Constitution, which mandates the complete separation of the Judiciary and the Executive.

[32] However, Pakistan's Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial Tuesday directed the registrar of the Supreme Court to not relinquish the charge of his office.

In a confrontational press conference, the Federal Minister of Information, Marriyum Aurangzeb, sought the resignation of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, asserting that the recent case was not about elections but rather bench fixing.

He further charged the chief justice with supporting the PTI's agenda and imposing the minority's viewpoint over the majority's decision in the Punjab election case.

[36][37] Amid a deepening political and constitutional crisis, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council has joined the people demanding Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial's resignation, asking the top judge to step down as he had become "controversial".

[41] However, the legal fraternity has strongly reacted over the composition of the eight-member larger bench of the Supreme Court hearing “premature petitions” against the SC (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, saying that the selection of judges for this purpose was justifying that the discretionary powers of the chief justice of Pakistan should be regulated.

[45][46] The PDM government later formed a judicial commission to investigate the leaked audio call and requested CJP Bandial to step down from the bench in order to guarantee that proper justice be delivered.