In an interesting development, prominent journalist Fakhar Durrani revealed why the government didn’t want Justice Mansoor Ali Shah as the next chief justice of Pakistan.

Speaking on ‘Fact Check Pakistan,’ he disclosed that things started turning against Justice Shah after he announced the reserved seats verdict on 12 July.

On July 12, the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf eligible for reserved seats of Women and non-muslims.

Chaired by Chief Justice Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, the 13-member larger bench was hearing the appeal filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council party against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHCs) recent reserved seat verdict.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, a second senior judge in the top court (counting Qazi Faez Isa as the first), had announced the majority eight-member verdict on reserved seats and ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the allotment of Women and non-muslim seats to PTI.

The other eight member judges, along with Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, were Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Irfan Saadat, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Muhammad.

Fakhar Durrani stated that following the verdict on reserved seats, Justice Shah reportedly sent a WhatsApp message to one of his wives, which the country’s agencies intercepted and informed the government about it.

“Main ne tumhary leader kay liye ye kar diya hai,” Fakhar Durrani quotes the message.

He also said that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah’s further conversation was collected, which was reportedly biased towards Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Based on Shah’s tilt toward PTI and the fear that Shah Could give the government a tough time, the ruling government decided to pass the 26th Constitutional Amendment before October 25, the date when Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa would retire as CJP, Durrani added.

Durrani also claimed that Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while giving the reason for the judiciary’s past controversial verdict and citing the top court verdict on the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, convinced Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F)

“There should be a process of accountability for judges, and parliament should have a role in the appointment of judges,” Bhutto had said.

Clarifying why Justice Mansoor Ali Shah’s message was not made public, the journalist claimed that the message was not public by the government amid fear of being disgraced internationally.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has not responded to this latest development that journalist Fakhar Durrani claimed.