Syed Ali Shah, Dawood Ahmed:
LISTEN ARTICLE
ISLAMABAD, QUETTA: Qazi Faez Isa from Balochistan’s Pishin district was sworn in as the 29th top judge of the country on Sunday morning. President Dr. Arif Alvi administered an oath to the newly appointed chief justice of Pakistan.
Qazi Faez Isa is the son of Qazi Muhammad Isa, a close aide of the founding father of the nation Quad e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Qazi’s grandfather Qazi Jalaluddin was prime minister of the Kalat State during British rule and also served as a judge in Afghanistan.
Faez Isa’s family members remained in important positions during British rule on the sub-continent, Kalat State and Afghanistan in the past.
Qazi Faez Isa was born on October 26, 1959 in Quetta
Qazi Faiz Isa has been part of the bar and bench for the past four decades. He was the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court from 2009 to 2014 and was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in September 2014.
He was appointed as the Chief Justice of Pakistan by President Arif Alvi on 21 June 2023. Qazi Faiz Isa will hold the post of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court till 25 October 2024.
Qazi Faiz was born on October 26, 1959, in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, and received his primary education from there. After that, he studied O and A level at Karachi Grammar School and then moved to London where he studied law. After a BA (Hons) from London, he passed the Bar Professional Examination from the Inns of Court School of Law, London, and was admitted to the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temples) in 1982.
On his return from London, he started his family profession as a lawyer at the Balochistan High Court in 1985. He appeared as a lawyer in the four High Courts of Pakistan apart from the Supreme Court and the Shariat Court for 24 years.
Qazi Faiz’s Irish aunt protests against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Nawab Bugti
Qazi Faiz Isa’s uncle, Qazi Muhammad Musa, married an Irish woman, Jennifer, who came to Balochistan from London and stayed here. Jennifer Musa was nicknamed Mummy Jennifer of Balochistan. She played an active role in politics in the 1970s. He was a member of the National Assembly from the platform of Abdul Wali Khan’s banned National Awami Party. Jennifer did not sign the 1973 constitution due to concerns about the rights of Balochistan.
Qazi Faez headed the judicial commission in the aftermath of lawyers’ killings in Quetta
Qazi Faez Isa submitted a comprehensive report about the Quetta carnage, which claimed 72 lives including 56 members of the legal fraternity. He had given important suggestions/ recommendations to law enforcement agencies, and provincial and federal governments to avert such tragedies in the future. However, the then government was not comfortable with Qazi Faez Isa’s judicial commission report.
Qazi issues non-bailable arrest warrants of late General (R) Pervez Musharraf
As the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC), Qazi Faez Isa issued non-bailable arrest warrants for late General (R) Pervez Musharraf in the murder case of elderly Baloch leader, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.
Qazi Faez Isa as a top judge of Balochistan also took suo moto notice of the killing of 43 coal miners in the Sorange area of Quetta. He submitted a comprehensive report to the Balochistan government to avert such untoward incidents in the future with regard to the safety of coal miners extracting coal from mines.
To be precise, Qazi Faez Isa was also an environmentalist as well. He issued detailed judgments about the protection of wildlife, trees, and forests and improving ecosystems in Balochistan.
