Full court bench hearing Justice Isa case dissolved

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – A Supreme Court’s (SC) full court 10-judge bench – hearing petitions challenging the filing of a reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa – has been dissolved on Monday due to unavailability of Justice Mazhar Alam. The bench has forwarded the matter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa for formation of a new bench to hear the case. Justice Umar Atta Bandial remarked that due to unavailability of Justice Mazhar Alam, the existing bench was being dissolved. On Sep 20, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa constituted a full bench to hear the petitions challenging the presidential reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The full bench headed by Justice Umar Atta Bandial, comprising 10 judges of the top court. Members of the Supreme Judicial Council including Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar, Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Sardar Tariq and Justice Ejazul Ahsan will not part of the bench. The bench is scheduled to hear the petitions on September, 24 at 1:00pm. on September 17, the seven-member bench hearing the applications of Justice Qazi Faez Isa against the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) dissolved after two judges recused themselves from the case. Justice Ejazul Hassan and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood recused themselves from the case. Justice Umar Atta Bandial remarked that they are sending the matter to Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa for forming the new bench to hear the applications. “We will also request for the early hearing of the matter,” he remarked. Earlier, CJP Asif Saeed Khosa had formed a seven-member bench led by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Ejazul Ahsan and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel to hear the petitions. On August 19, the Supreme Judicial Council had dismissed a government’s reference of misconduct against Justice Qazi Faez Isa for writing letters to President Dr Arif Alvi. In the verdict, the SJC ruled that the petitioner had failed in proving that the letters written to President Arif Ali were leaked by Justice Qazi Faez Isa. “The letter to President Arif Alvi was written in personal capacity. It was not a misconduct to write a letter to the President,” it ruled. In May, President Arif Alvi had authorized the filing of a reference with the SJC against alleged misconduct of Justice Isa and Sindh High Court’s Justice KK Agha, who allegedly hold foreign properties either in their names or through their spouses. Consequently, Justice Isa had written a letter to President Alvi seeking clarity regarding reports that the government had filed a reference against him over allegations of misconduct. Copies of the letter were sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the apex court as well.