PM orders withdrawal of curative plea against Justice Isa

PM Shehbaz Sharif says curative review petition was aimed at harassing and intimidating honourable judge

By Muhammad Anis

March 31, 2023

A file photo of Justice Qazi Faez Isa. — SC website

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday ordered the withdrawal of a curative review plea against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The prime minister has instructed Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar to withdraw the reference, saying the government will not pursue the same as it was baseless and politically motivated.

The prime minister regretted that the Imran Khan government harassed and maligned the family of Justice Faez Isa in the name of reference.

The federal cabinet had already approved the withdrawal of the reference in a meeting chaired by the prime minister, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.

“This was not a reference but rather a victimisation by revengeful Imran Niazi against an impartial person who is pursuing the course of Constitution and the law,” the prime minister said. He said that it was an attack on the judiciary to usurp its independence and create a division within it.

Shehbaz said that while in the opposition, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and other coalition parties had opposed this frivolous reference.

The prime minister said Imran Niazi also made the President of Pakistan “misuse” his office for this ‘criminal act’. “The president also became an accomplice in an attack on the judiciary,” he said.

He said the lawyer's bodies, including the Pakistan Bar Council, had also opposed the reference and the government valued their opinion and decided to withdraw the curative reference.

Meanwhile, the prime minister in a tweet said the passage of the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill, 2023 by the parliament will institutionally strengthen the Supreme Court.

“It will help make the process of bench formation and exercise of Article 184(3) transparent and inclusive thus serving the cause of justice,” said Shehbaz Sharif after the highly important bill got the nod of the Senate on Thursday after its passage by the National Assembly on Wednesday night.