Snippets
It was Recusing judges bizarre to witness the turn of events in our part of the world when the Lahore High Court (LHC) twice had to constitute new benches to hear PMLN Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s petition for the return of her passport to travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah after a judge each from the dissolved benches recused themselves finally compelling her to withdraw her petition. The petition had already seen its original bench dissolved earlier meaning that in all three benches that have been assigned the petitions were dissolved and now a fourth division bench will hear it. It is very surprising to witness the top judges recusing themselves from hearing a petition asking for relief particularly when the same court had granted post-arrest bail to Maryam Nawaz in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case way back in 2019. This matter has given rise to widespread conjecturing and innuendo reflecting rather negatively on the role of judiciary that is already far from being considered in high esteem. Maryam’s voluntary withdrawal of her petition speaks volumes about the lack of trust reposed in the august portals of judgment in the country and this impression is required to be allayed at the earliest. TW
