SCBA secretary, other reps distance from president's stance

LAHORE: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Azmatullah Chaudhry on Tuesday distanced himself from the stance taken by President Amanullah Kanrani on a reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“The views being expressed by the president do not represent the whole bar,” Chaudhry told a press conference held at the Lahore Press Club.

SCBA Vice President on Punjab seat Malik Karamat Awan, four members of the bar’s executive committee including Liaquat Ali Tareen, Yousaf Mughal, Samina Durrani and Javed Chaudhry were also present at the media briefing.

The secretary stated that the matter of the reference had not been discussed so far in any meeting of the bar’s executive committee. He said Kanrani had been giving an impression that the decision to observe protest against the Supreme Judicial Council’s proceedings was a consensus one. He said the country was passing through an era of accountability and nobody was above the law.

He said there might be no accountability in the future if the ongoing process was jeopardized. Chaudhry said Justice Isa was equally respectable for the whole legal fraternity, however, the matter of his reference was sub-judice before the council, which was a constitutional forum. He called for early disposal of all references pending before the SJC.

The secretary claimed that few people had been exploiting the matter out of context for personal interests only. He said the language being used by President Kanrani against the judges sitting in the SJC was contemptuous.

It is to mention that the secretary belongs to the Independent Group, commonly known as the late Asma Jahangir group, while the president is affiliated to Hamid Khan-led Professional Group.

A group of senior lawyers will also hold a press conference on Wednesday (today) at the Supreme Court Lahore Registry on the same issue.