THIS is with reference to the report ‘Ordinance gives CJP wide berth to shape benches’ (Sept 21). Frankly, I was startled by the use of ‘wide berth’ idiom in the headline. What the headline probably meant to say was that the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) had been given wide leverage with respect to forming Supreme Court benches, but language pedants like me were sent on a wild goose chase of literature review to see if English idioms have had a change or an elegant variation to impart new meaning to this famous idiom.

As I found nothing, I pored over the contents below the headline to discover the relevance of the text to the headline. I found none as the contents were explicit that the powers to form the benches with the CJP, as per the new ordinance, now meant that the CJP had the powers to form benches from amongst the judges of his choice instead of the three senior most judges. How does the new ordinance give ‘wide berth’ to the CJP?

Brig (retd) Dr Raashid Wali Janjua
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2024