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the appointment of Justice Kasi as CJ of the Islamabad High Court and the
presidency issued the required notification.
Green benches formed
A significant development during 2012 was the creation by all high courts
of ‘green benches’ to hear cases pertaining to environmental issues.
The decision to this effect was taken on the recommendation of the
‘Bhurban Declaration 2012 – A common Vision on Environment for the South
Asian Judiciaries’ adopted during South Asian Conference on Environmental
Justice held from March 24 to 25 under the aegis of the Supreme Court.
The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) constituted a green
single bench and a green division bench at Islamabad. All the courts of senior
civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates as well as civil judges-cum-judicial
magistrates at Islamabad were declared as green courts. The courts of district
and sessions judges in Islamabad were declared as green courts to hear all the
cases/appeals.
The CJ of the Lahore High Court (LHC) established a green single bench
and a green division bench at the principal seat at Lahore and different branches.
The courts of senior civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates at the headquarters
and the courts of civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates at sub-divisions were
declared as green courts. All courts of district and sessions judges in Punjab
were given the status of green courts to hear appeals.
Similar action was taken by the Chief Justices of the Sindh, Peshawar and
Balochistan high courts.
Dual nationality
The Supreme Court ruled that Pakistanis holding the nationality of another
country could not hold high elective offices because by acquiring citizenship
of a foreign state they created a serious conflict of interest, as such persons
took oath of allegiance to the foreign state after renouncing their allegiance to
Pakistan.
More than a dozen members of the parliament and provincial assemblies
were disqualified.
The court made it clear that its verdict did not affect Pakistani citizens’
right to acquire a foreign country’s nationality, a right granted by the Citizenship
Act.
A long-drawn-out case concerned Interior Minister Rahman Malik. He
was given notice to prove that he had renounced his British nationality. The
documents submitted by him were not accepted as proof of his claim and he
was disqualified from continuing as a Senator. He resigned his seat and was
appointed an adviser. Later on he was re-elected as Senator from Sindh and
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State of Human Rights in 2012