Supreme Court Adjourns Justice Qazi Faez Isa's Petition Till Wednesday

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of Justice Qazi Faez Isa's petition challenging the presidential reference filed against him over alleged non-disclosure of assets in his wealth statement till Wednesday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Nov, 2019 ) :The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of Justice Qazi Faez Isa's petition challenging the presidential reference filed against him over alleged non-disclosure of assets in his wealth statement till Wednesday.

The reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa alleges that he acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015, but did not disclose them in wealth returns.

A ten-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the case regarding proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Continuing his arguments, Advocate Babar Sattar, a member of the legal team of Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, said the president did not have any material in respect of the tax on which he made his comments.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the matter before the Supreme Judicial Council was not tax evasion. The matter of code of conduct was raised in the reference that the judge did not disclose his property, he added.

He asked the counsel that what he had said about the judge's civil rights was contradictory to Munir Malik's argument.

Justice Faisal Arab said the court would rely on Munir Malik's arguments while those of Babar Sattar would only be considered to the extent of tax.

Therefore, there was no need to compare the arguments of Munir Malik with those of Babar Sattar, he added.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked the counsel that whether he had made his point about the Constitution and the law.

He asked the counsel to continue his arguments on tax matters.

Babar Sattar said the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 did not authorize the advice of the Income Tax Officers. He said that Justice Qazi Faez Isa was registered with the FBR on March 11, 1999.

He said except the FBR's internal procedures no authority including, the Supreme Judicial Council, could see tax information. The wife of Justice Qazi Faiz Isa was not in public service so her information could not be shared, he added.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial addressing the counsel, said he was saying that when all the content goes to the president, he should look at the legal method of collecting the same. He asked the counsel that he might be right on the technical grounds, but those points were very small ones.

Justice Yahya Afridi asked where did Justice Qazi Faez Isa file his tax returns.

Babar Sattar said Judge Faez Isa was filing his tax returns in Islamabad after becoming a Supreme Court judge. Article 209 was not formed to oust judges but to protect the judges, he added.

He said the judges could be terminated according to the law.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked the counsel to complete his arguments about tax laws on Wednesday. "Tomorrow the trial will take place like a 20 overs match," he added.