Presidential reference: Justice Isa appears before court, pleads his case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court adjourned until Tuesday identical review petitions against its order of June 19, 2020, to the extent of directions given to the Federal Board of Revenue after the full court squashed the Presidential reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

A 10-member larger bench, headed by Justice Umer Ata Bandial, resumed hearing of the review petitions filed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa and bar associations seeking reconstitution of the bench comprising three judges who had written dissenting notes in the Presidential reference filed against Justice Isa.

Other members of the bench will include Justice Maqbool Baqir, Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, Justice Muneeb Akhtar Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Amin Uddin Khan.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa, of the Supreme Court, appeared in person before the court and thanked for constitution of a larger bench to hear his review petition. The judge informed the court that his lawyer Munir A Malik was not well and could not appear before the court. He requested the court to accept his plea of broadcasting the proceedings of his case live in order to correct the public perception.

Justice Isa also requested the court to decide his case at the earliest as one of the members of the bench would retire next month. He said that a malicious campaign had been launched against him and his family and he wanted the proceedings of his case be broadcast live so that the perception of the public could be corrected.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial however, observed that there was no material available with the court that substantiated anything about deriding his family. “If your plea is accepted, every litigant will ask the court for live broadcast of court proceedings,” Justice Umar Bandial told Justice Isa.

Justice Bandial observed the court decides cases in accordance with law and Constitution and after looking into all aspects. “At present, we are not issuing notices on the matter of live coverage of the proceedings”, Justice Bandial said.

Meanwhile, the court asked Justice Isa to submit written reasons from Munir A Malik for his inability to argue the case. The court also asked Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Aamir to seek instructions from Attorney General Khalid Javed and adjourned the hearing until today (Tuesday).

A 10-member full court, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, in a short order on June 19,2020, had quashed the reference of legal effect, holding the proceedings before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as having abetted. Seven judges of the full court, including Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed had referred the matter to the Federal Board of Revenue, directing initiating tax proceedings against the spouse and children of Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Later, in order to hear review petitions against the judgment, the Chief Justice formed a seven-judge bench comprising all judges who had written the majority judgment. One of the members, Justice Faisal Arab, retired on November 3 and later another bench was announced comprising the remaining six judges.

Three judges, including Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi, who held the minority view, were excluded from the larger bench. Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Sindh High Court Bar Association, Mrs Sarina Isa, wife of Justice Qazi Faez isa, Supreme Court Bar Association and others had filed review petitions, seeking reconstitution of the bench including the judges who gave the minority judgment.