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 - 28th Jan, 2020 ) :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.

A 10-member larger SC bench 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.

The reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa alleged 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.

During the course of proceedings, Rasheed A Rizvi, counsel for the Sindh High Court Bar Association, said the independence of judiciary depended on the term of a judge. If the term of the judge was not secured, he or she would not be able to perform, he added.

He said the removal of judges was the most difficult process around the world, while in Pakistan it was very easy to remove them.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked the counsel whether he was criticizing the Constitution. The procedure for dismissing the judges was clear in the Constitution and in the present case, the Supreme Judicial Council was acting according to the law, he added.

He asked the counsel to argue his case instead of criticizing the system. A judge lived in a house of glass and was also accountable, he added.

Rasheed Rizvi said Article 209 gave protection to the judges.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah observed that every person, including the judge, was not beyond accountability. Action against a judge must be in accordance with the Constitution and the law, he added.

Rasheed Rizvi said there were only two shooters on the house of glass, one was the president and the other was the Supreme Judicial Council. The summary of the reference was based on spy accounts, he claimed.

He alleged that Justice K K Agha, who had passed the judgment on May 12, 2007 incident, was also targeted in the reference. Wasim Akhtar admitted in the court that roads were blocked in Karachi on May 12 following his instructions, he claimed.

The counsel said he saw the judges jumping the court walls and entering the Sindh High Court's building on that day.

Justice Bandial asked what happened to the Constitution on November 3, 2007.

Rasheed Rizvi responded that the same thing happened on November 3, 2007 which was happened on May 12, 2007.

Advocate Salman Akram Raja, counsel for the Pakistan Bar Council, said the Asset Recovery Unit obtained the material against the judge in violation of the protection guaranteed to him.

He said the Asset Recovery Unit was not authorized to conduct such an inquiry under the Federal Government Rules. The ARU could not collect material without the president's permission and it should have also kept the information in front of the president at the outset, he added.

Salman Akram Raja said the parliament must legislate on the matter as otherwise the default procedure would have to be adopted.

Justice Munib Akhtar said there was no relation between the misconduct of judges and the tax authority.

Justice Munib Akhtar said if the complaint was not heard then the complainant could say that his rights were infringed upon.

Salman Akram Raja said the judge had rights like that of a common citizen. It was a matter of dignity of the judiciary.

Justice Bandial said it was not a matter of tax, but of misconduct, and the Supreme Judicial Council was reviewing only sources of income.