Umar Ata Bandial

Umar Ata Bandial (, [ʊmər ətaː bənd̪jaːl]; born 17 September 1958) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan from February 2022 to September 2023.

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

Bandial was born in 1958 in Lahore, West Pakistan, into a Punjabi Muslim family.

In 1973, Bandial received his Senior Cambridge certificate from St Mary's Academy, Rawalpindi.

He then enrolled in Aitchison College, Lahore, for his Higher Senior Cambridge certificate, which he received in 1975.

He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia University in 1979 and followed this with a Law Tripos degree from the University of Cambridge in 1981.

He qualified as a Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln's Inn, London.

Bandial joined the Lahore High Court as an advocate in 1983.

He also taught torts law and contract law at the Punjab University Law College in Lahore until 1987, after which he served on its Graduate Studies Committee.

He then was made a Judge of the Lahore High Court.

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.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial has reached out to his fellow judges to put an end to the division in the Supreme Court as the controversy surrounding the top court's verdict on election delay case in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) continues to deepen.

On 28 March 2023, the Pakistani government unanimously passed a controversial resolution against the Judiciary.

The resolution, which was introduced by Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb, rejects the Judiciary's interference in the legislative process.

He was elevated as a Judge of the Lahore High Court on 4 December 2004.

He was one of the judges who refused to take an oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order, preferring to resign instead.

He was restored as a LHC judge as a result of the Lawyers' Movement.

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

Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a Justice of Lahore High Court from 1 June 2012 to 16 June 2014.

Bandial served as the Chief Justice of Pakistan for one year, six months, and 25 days from 2 February 2022, until his retirement on 16 September 2023.

On 1 June 2012, he was appointed as the 41st Chief Justice of Lahore High Court.

After a few years on 17 June 2014, he became a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He served at that post until his appointment as a Supreme Court judge on 16 June 2014.

Bandial's appointment as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) was approved by Alvi on 13 January 2022.

He was sworn in on 2 February 2022, in a ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

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 reorganized the bodies that dealt with administrative and judicial powers, including the building committee, record enrolment committee, Supreme Court research affairs branch, and law clerk programme.

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.

As the CJP, Justice Bandial was elected as chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judicial Commission of Pakistan, and Law and Justice Commission.

The structure of these three bodies was changed completely.

In his first month as CJP, the Supreme Court decided a record 1,761 cases in an effort to address the issue of pendency.

Senior lawyers noted the discipline in the fixation of cases and formation of benches.

In 2022, he was named among the Time 100 most influential people.

Justice Mandokhel refused to sit down chief justice and the other bench members due to disagreements with the bench members.

Justice Minallah regrets apex court's conduct, terms it akin to 'advancing political strategies' Justice Minallah calls for 'introspection' as country verges on constitutional crisis.

Justice Minallah, who is among those judges of the apex court who have rejected the suo motu notice taken by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial regarding the delay in polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, said that by entertaining the petitions and suo motu jurisdiction, the court would be "unjustifiably undermining the independence of two provincial high courts."

Judges must not be seen as 'politicians in robes', says Justice Minallah

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is also the Chairman of PPP said that Judicial dictatorship not acceptable.

He said "If there is no difference among the SC judges, then what is the issue in constituting a full court? You can save the country from the constitutional crisis by making a full court."

Collation Government asked Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to first put his "own house in order" before asking politicians to sit together.