Islamabad:
The senior judge of Puisne of the Supreme Court, Judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, has written a letter to the president of the Supreme Court Yahya Afridi, urging him to publicly answer a series of pressing institutional questions in the next judicial conference on September 8, 2025.
The letter, entitled “Pressing institutional concerns,” covers seven pages, raised serious concerns about transparency, judicial independence, collegiality and internal functioning of the Apex court.
The Mansoor judge emphasizes that the problems that stand out are not personal complaints, but come from a “deep commitment to judicial work” and the integrity of the institution. “As the highest judge of this court after yourself, I write this letter with reluctance, but in high an inevitable institutional duty,” Judge Mansoor wrote.
The Mansoor judge listed six specific questions so that the president of the Supreme Court Aphridi answered publicly at the Judicial Conference, focusing on the lack of control of the Pope Committee, the review of the 1980 rules without a complete judicial debate, the issuance of the permanent general order with a license, the failure to set the requests that challenge the amendment 26 before the original total court, and the general independence of the youth.
Among the central issues, Judge Mansoor stressed that judicial lists and bank formations have been issued unilaterally, avoiding the mandatory consultation.
Judge Mansoor said that his repeated letters and communications written to the president of the Supreme Court in the affairs were not answered, and added: “Such silence of the President of the Supreme Court to the highest judge of the Court is not simply discouraging; but undermines the collegiate traditions of this Court.”
He also criticized the recent review of the rules of the Supreme Court, 1980, stating that it was approved through circulation instead of a complete judicial meeting, a law that considered a “lack of collegiality and preference for unilateral authority.”
The Mansoor judge was deactivated with the policy of requesting dissident opinions through written communication, qualifying it as an “exercise of tick boxes” that deprived the rich deliberation court. In addition, he condemned the permanent general order (OGS) issued in July 2025, which classifies judges as “complete” officials of the State.
“The judges are not regimented officials; their independence is constitutionally entrenched,” he said.
He described the requirements of the OGM, such as revealing the residential direction of a judge and limiting the license categories, such as “surveillance” that undermines the dignity and independence of the Judiciary.
Perhaps the most serious position comes in the section on the legitimacy of the court itself, where the Mansoor judge questioned why the requests that challenge the 26th constitutional amendment, which affect the independence of the Judiciary, have not been heard for almost a year.
“True leadership does not lies in administering compliance, but in ensuring that the court goes over suspicion as the brave 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, content and the call to public responsibility reflect a growing discontent within the Judiciary on the centralization of administrative powers under the president of the President of the Supreme Court.
Judge Mansoor ended the letter urging the President of the Supreme Court to use the Judicial Conference as “a moment of institutional renewal” and reaffirm the principles of collegiality and constitutional fidelity. “
