SJC hearing: No good vibes coming, say ministers

ISLAMABAD: After the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) hearing a reference against senior judge of the Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the federal government did not receive good vibes from the situation.

“Since everyone is eying on the case because of its implications in either way, we contacted the relevant authorities, however, we did not receive fully positive feedback,” said a legal wizard of the federal government when contacted by The News here on Friday.

The SJC meeting was headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, held at Supreme Court building, for about one and a half hours where it reviewed the presidential references against two judges Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Karim Khan Agha.

While requesting anonymity, at least two ministers of the federal cabinet also expressed concerns over the newly developing situation after the initiation of these references by the government. They said that they are also not receiving satisfactory reports on the situation.

The moment the SJC proceedings concluded, Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan appeared in the corridors with visibly serious face. Journalists attempted to approach him and one Abdul Qayyum Siddiqui, a special correspondent of Geo News, asked him couple of questions, but he remained tight-lipped while walking towards his office apparently with a tense look. When Siddiqui holding his mobile camera asked the attorney general, “What happened in the meeting?” Anwar Mansoor Khan smilingly made an attempt to grab the camera but after failing his face turned serious again and he briskly walked to his office.

Outside the Supreme Court building, the lawyers of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and members of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) kept raising slogans against the government and its different departments allegedly involved in framing references against the two judges. It was the protest of the lawyers which forced the attorney general to leave the Supreme Court building while using judges entry/exit gate.

Since the initiation of the case, it has also drawn attention of country’s legal and judicial communities besides the bureaucracy. After the proceedings of the SJC, some key bureaucrats in Islamabad remained busy in making WhatsApp calls to the journalists seeking details of the case.