Top court allows Justice Isa to argue his case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Justice Qazi Faez Isa to argue his case on a review petition against its June 19, 2020 ruling, to the extent of directives given to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) after the full court quashed the presidential reference filed against him.

A 10-member larger bench, comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the review petition seeking removal of paragraphs 2 to 11 of the June 19, 2020 verdict.

In its order, a 10-member full court, headed by Justice Bandial, 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 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 FBR, directing it to initiate tax proceedings against the spouse and children of Justice Isa.

During the course of the proceedings on Tuesday, the court allowed Justice Isa to argue his case after receiving a written application by his counsel, Muneer Malik, regarding his inability to argue the case due to illness.

Justice Isa, arguing his application for live coverage of his case proceedings, said that freedom of expression was a basic human right. PTV broadcast the proceedings of Parliament live, while there was no mention of live broadcast of parliamentary proceedings in the Constitution, he added.

He asked why the court was not using technology if it was available. Justice Bandial said that there were logistic and practical concerns about the live telecast of court proceedings. It was a policy and administrative, rather than judicial matter, he added.

He said the full court would review whether the live broadcast could be allowed or not. If the court agreed to direct coverage, state machinery would be used, he added. He said no private camera would be allowed in the court. “There should be journalists in court rather than capitalists,” he added.

He asked who would represent the federal government. Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman said he just received instructions to receive notice. Justice Shah said surprisingly, it had not been decided yet who would represent the federal government in the case. Later, hearing of the case was adjourned until today (Wednesday).