References against judges: SJC conducts 10-minute hearing

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Tuesday held its second hearing on the presidential references filed against Justice Qazi Faiz Isa of Supreme Court and Karim Khan (KK) Agha of Sindh High Court.

A five-member bench of the council, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M Shaikh and Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth, resumed the hearing.

It was learnt that the in-camera meeting of the council lasted around 10 minutes and later the proceedings were adjourned. However, the outcome of the proceedings was not known. According to some TV channel reports, the attorney general could not attend the hearing for being preoccupied with the cabinet meeting.

The council had held its preliminary proceedings on June 14 and later on provided copies of references the two judges so that they could submit their respective replies. Meanwhile, as per an announcement made earlier by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the legal fraternity Tuesday observed a countrywide strike, while lawyers staged a sit-in at the main entrance to the Supreme Court, Islamabad.

The lawyers wore black bands around their arms, while senior lawyers as well as lawyer leaders including the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Aman Ullah Kanrani and Vice Chairman Pakistan Bar Council Syed Amjad Shah sat with lawyers the whole day.

After the SJC concluded its second hearing, the legal fraternity vowed to continue their resolve to protect the judiciary and expressed their commitment to the independence of judiciary, rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution.

Addressing the media, Amjad Shah said the SJC held its 2nd hearing on the references adding that they had also convened a meeting of the Joint Action Committee, which was attended by representatives of all the bar councils across the country.

He said the lawyers were united for the independence of judiciary, rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution “We are not standing here against the judges but demand of the SJC to conduct hearing on all the pending references.

Referring to the meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on appointment of judges for the superior judiciary, he said they had some reservations about the judges. He said their two representatives had participated in the JCP meeting and objected to the recommendations of five judges made by the Commission for their appointment.

He said their representatives had told the commission that these judges had not paid their income tax when they were lawyers. However, he said a senior government representative, present in the Judicial Commission meeting, said it was not an issue and they will pay their income tax after the Income Tax Commissioner issued them a notice.

“Our representatives did feel in the other day meeting of the JCP that there were 11 attorney generals sitting in the meeting who’d bulldozed their viewpoint,” Shah said, adding that he had requested the judiciary not to push the country towards darkness.

Shah said on the one hand a senior judge was being sacked for not paying income tax, on the other judges were being appointed who had not submitted their income tax papers.

Earlier, as per schedule, a meeting of the Joint Action Committee was held at the office of Syed Amjad Shah. President Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) also attended the meeting.

The meeting agreed in principle that the whole legal fraternity believed that the current presidential references were based on mala fide intentions. "We term these references a last attack on the independence of judiciary," the meeting resolved.

From today, the lawyers are commencing their drive for protection of judiciary and integrity and progress of the country. The meeting announced that first lawyer convention will be held on July 13 at the Peshawar High Court Bar Association.

Meanwhile, President SCBA Aman Ullah Kanrani agreed to constitute a SCBA Coordination Committee for interaction with the lawyer bodies across the country to support lawyers’ struggle for independence of judiciary.