He observed that the practice might instill "delusions of grandeur" in public servants, which the chief justice said was unacceptable."It is about time that the practice of adding the word sahib with one's job title is discontinued, as it unnecessarily elevates the status of public servants, discontinued, as it unnecessarily elevates the status of public servants, which may instil in them delusions of grandeur and a perception of unaccountability, which is unacceptable since it is against the interests of the public whom they are meant to serve," the order said, as per Pakistani media.
Justice Isa passed the order while hearing a bail plea in a murder case from last year where the victim was a child.During the course of the hearing, he took objection to the prosecutor, the Additional Advocate General of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, addressing a local deputy superintendent of police as "DySP sahib".
"You have spoiled everyone by calling them sahib. He is a DSP or rather an incompetent DSP...and not a sahib," the chief justice was quoted as saying by Pakistan Today as he admonished the Additional Advocate General. The bench observed that the charge sheet in the case had only relied on two statements and the investigation did not amount to a proper one.
The court called the police probe into the matter a "classic example of an incompetently handled investigation". Subsequently, the accused was granted bail by the Pakistani top court.