Justice Faez verdict

For most legal observers, the decision that the Supreme Court of Pakistan delivered on April 26 will go a long way in the judicial history of Pakistan. The SC accepted all review petitions challenging the court’s judgment in the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, except the one that the judge himself had filed. The 10-member bench heard the review petitions filed against the SC’s June 19, 2020, judgment on the presidential reference. While quashing the presidential reference, the Supreme Court had empowered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to conduct an inquiry into offshore assets of Justice Isa’s wife. Now the SC has stated that the directions and reasons that the majority judgment had given are no more valid.

This case had become a high-profile matter not just because it was the result of a presidential reference, but since the judge under review and investigation himself pleaded his case rather than relying on his lawyer. The fact that the top court accepted the review petition by a majority of 6-4 does not make it a unanimous decision but the way the arguments proceeded in the court had multiple lessons for the drafters of the presidential reference as well as for the legal community in the country. First, the court has declared all actions that the FBR took against Justice Isa’s wife and children illegal. Perhaps the most important lesson is that it is better to do proper homework before drafting and filing a presidential reference like this. The second lesson is that perhaps it is better to make assets of all high-profile people public so that there is no question of any wrongdoing or hiding of assets that may result in such proceedings.

All-round accountability, covering all members of the ruling elite is a necessity in the country, but should be conducted across the board, and as transparently and fairly as is conceivable without government ministers entering into the fray and raising accusatory remarks against the person accused. It is also unclear if there can be any further proceedings against Justice Faez Isa in the matter from this point on. Legal experts believe that, while the court cannot act, the FBR may be free to examine the taxation of Justice Isa and his family if it deems it necessary. There has been much talk about the selective way in which accountability has been carried out in Pakistan recently. Those who believe in the supremacy of the constitution and independence of the judiciary considered this case as a litmus test for how a judge can himself appear in the court and defend himself. What happens now is to be seen. We do hope though that in the future judges are permitted to deliver verdicts as per their conscience and their legal interpretation of the evidence presented to them. Action on the basis of proved wrongdoing should of course continue against all members of our society and officialdom.