Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial donned his robes one last time on Friday, a day before he is set to reach the age of superannuation.

The CJ took his usual place in the Supreme Court’s courtroom number 1 along with Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar with a number of civil cases lined up.

Lawyers appearing in front of the bench expressed their best wishes for the chief justice, who in turn thanked them.

Bandial also said ‘good to see you’ to the lawyers.

He added that he was thankful to God for the opportunity provided to him and said that he had worked throughout his tenure to ‘please God’.

Justice Bandial added that the ‘black coat’ always has a link to the bar and he looked forward to meeting lawyers in the bar room.

He also thanked the members of the media for keeping him ‘active’ through their criticism. He added that the media should criticise judgements, but when talking about judges they should ensure their critique is based on facts.

When some lawyers praised the CJ for his patience, Bandial replied with a Ghalib verse ‘Dil ke khush rakhnay ko Ghalib ye khyal acha hai’.