The Pakistan delegation, including the Chief Justice of the country’s Supreme Court, skipped the 18th meeting of the Chief Justices of the Supreme Courts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states on Friday, sources in the Supreme Court said. The delegates had agreed to join the three-day meeting virtually and even asked for a link to jojn. The Supreme Court of India is hosting the event from March 10 to 12 in the national capital. On Thursday, Supreme Court sources had told The Indian Express that while the Chinese and Russian delegations will be attending the event, the Pakistan delegation had opted out. But on Friday, the sources said they had received a request in the morning from the Pakistani side, seeking a virtual link to the event. “They asked for the link which was then forwarded to them,” a Supreme Court official told The Indian Express. The Indian participation in the meeting will include Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Supreme Court judges Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph. CJI Chandrachud will speak on ‘Smart Courts’ and the future of the judiciary, while Justice Kaul will speak on facilitating access to justice. Justice Joseph will address the gathering on institutional challenges facing the judiciary. An official note said the meeting will involve a joint interaction with the Chief Justices/chairpersons/judges from the member/observer states and representatives from SCO Secretariat and SCO RATS (Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure) and will conclude with the signing of a joint statement. It said that in the constantly expanding activities of the SCO, the interaction of the highest judicial instances is becoming more and more popular. The meeting of the presidents of the Supreme Courts allows for a constant dialogue on a wide range of issues, giving a new impetus to the development of relations and allowing the development of mechanisms for further improving the work of the judiciary, it said. The first meeting was held on September 22, 2006, in Shanghai. The 17th meeting was held in Dushanbe. India assumed rotational presidency of the SCO for a year in September 2022.
