–SC judge says his application ‘raises very important constitutional questions’ about the freedom of the judiciary
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Monday filed a fresh petition in the apex court seeking the formation of a full court to hear the references filed against him while accusing Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa of “showing personal bias against him”.
“The language used by the chief justice [of Pakistan] in the [Supreme Judicial] Council’s order sadly demonstrates his lordship’s bias and prejudice towards him [Justice Isa],” the plea states.
It also says that Justice Isa has nothing but respect and regard for the chief justice of Pakistan. It goes on to say that,”The petitioner has always treated him [CJP] as his elder.”
The petition adds that Justice Isa acknowledges that he benefited from the rich experience and expertise of the CJP in criminal matters while siting and working with Justice Khosa at the Supreme Court. “It is therefore all the more puzzling that his lordship has disrespected, disparaged, denigrated and castigated the petitioner in the strongest of terms,” it reads.
Justice Isa’s plea states that a month ago before the filing of the reference against him, Justice Khosa asked him to discuss the petition against him in his chambers.
He also says that in light of the sensitivity of the matter he will disclose the conversation in-camera before the court so the top judge may contradict him if given the chance to do so.
“Another reason for the Chief Justice’s displeasure appears to be the Petitioner’s Justice Isa request to the SC to declare that the present Chairman and Members of the Supreme Judicial Council are no longer competent to hear the Reference Number 1 against the petitioner on account of the bias shown against the petitioner demonstrable from the order disposing off reference number 427 of 2019 and in the circumstances it may graciously be ordered that the instant petition be heard by the full court comprising all eligible judges.”
Justice Isa also claimed in his petition that intelligence agencies have been deployed to monitor his family in which public funds are being misused.
Moreover, he has alleged that his wife’s personal data and records are also being probed.
The SJC had, last Monday, dismissed a misconduct reference against Justice Isa filed by a petitioner who had accused the justice of acting inappropriately by writing to the president and leaking those letters to the media.
The SJC in its decision had noted that though Justice Isa had admitted the writing of three letters to the president, there was nothing to show he had also leaked them to the media.
Further, “The purpose or the contents of such letters might appear to some to be oblique or objectionable, but such letters were merely private letters not shown to be meant or intended to be read by anybody other than the addressee and those to whom they had been copied,” the verdict had read.
However, in the same verdict, Chief Justice Khosa had contradicted a key position taken by Justice Isa in the said letters regarding his ignorance of the petition filed against him.
Justice Khosa stated that he had personally provided Justice Isa an opportunity to read the reference before the latter wrote to the president.
After the reference was received, “The respondent judge was […] contacted by the chief justice […] with a request to come over to the chief justice’s chamber, which the respondent judge was kind enough to do. The chief justice then informed the respondent judge about receipt of the reference from the president and asked him to read the same for his information. The respondent judge then sat down and read the entire reference and took his time in doing so.”
While reading the allegations against him, Justice Isa had asked for a paper and pencil for taking notes, which were supplied to him by the chief justice personally, according to the judgement.
The decision had noted that, “The three letters written by [Justice Isa] to the president clearly stated that till the writing of those letters, the respondent judge did not know whether any reference had actually been filed by the president against him or not and in any case he was unaware of the contents of and the allegations levelled in any such reference, if filed.
Yet the aforementioned meeting of Justice Isa with Chief Justice Khosa “shows that the respondent judge not only knew about filing of the reference against him but also about the actual contents thereof and the allegations levelled therein before he had started writing successive letters to the president on the subject, professing his ignorance about the same”, the verdict had noted.
Justice Isa also seeks that the court initiate or direct the appropriate action be taken against the complainant of Reference number 427, including the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against him.
Justice Isa argues that his application “raises very important constitutional questions” about the freedom of the judiciary, the formation of an independent viewpoint by the president of Pakistan, obtaining the Federal Cabinet’s approval and matters of surveillance and the manner and method of collecting evidence against a judge of the Supreme Court, and should therefore be heard by the full court.
He has argued that a judicial precedent for constituting a bench comprising the full court is already available in Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry versus the President of Pakistan.