ISLAMABAD: Chief justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial has been listed in Time magazine’s annual 100 most influential people in the world issue for 2022.
The list features Apple CEO Tim Cook, American talk show host and TV producer Oprah Winfrey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Time write-up described Bandial as “polite and understated” and an “antidote” to rising temperatures in the country of 220 million.
“Widely respected for his personal integrity, the Columbia- and Cambridge-educated jurist bears the heavy mantle of not just delivering justice but also being seen to do so,” Bandial’s description read. “How far he succeeds in this task may well determine the trajectory of Pakistan, and its region, for years to come.”
The write-up recalls how in early April this year the Supreme Court of Pakistan, led by Bandial, overturned now former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move to dissolve Parliament, declaring it “unconstitutional:”
“As other institutions lock horns in a battle for advantage ahead of impending elections, the court looms large as the final arbiter.”
Bandial is the 28th chief justice of Pakistan and assumed office in February 2022.
He has been a justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since June 2014. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served as a justice of the Lahore High Court from June 1, 2012 to June 16, 2014.
Bandial will serve as the chief justice until his retirement on September 16, 2023.
