Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on Friday appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) not to pass personal or derogatory comments against judges of other courts, saying that all judges are equally worthy of respect.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge said that while CJP Mian Saqib Nisar has the right to set aside, modify or uphold the verdicts of other judges, he does not have the right to humiliate them.

Judges who are ridiculed by the CJP will be bound to respond to the comments, which will be damaging to the judicial institution, Justice Siddiqui added.

The high court judge made the comments during hearing of a case regarding encroachments in the capital, in which lawyer Raja Inam Ameen Mihas argued that in a case regarding private school fees — which was heard by Justice Siddiqui — the apex court had upheld the status quo and remanded the case back to the IHC.

Earlier, Justice Siddiqui had restrained private schools from collecting fees during summer vacations. However, a lawyer petitioned the Supreme Court on Thursday arguing that the IHC had passed a restraining order while assuming suo motu powers even though they are not vested to high courts.

In response, Justice Nisar had remarked that the "order [of the private school fee case] shows the mindset of the author judge", and remanded the case back to the IHC.

When reminded of the CJP's remarks during today's hearing, Justice Siddiqui said he would like to convey to Justice Nisar that all judges are equally respectable, learned and dignified personalities. He added that while the CJP has the authority to overturn judgements passed by other judges, he did not, however have the power to humiliate other judges.