SC hearing on IHC judges’ letter starts

Islamabad: The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the suo motu notice case till April 29 on the issue of the letter of the judges of the Islam High Court (IHC).

A seven-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faiz Isa is hearing the suo motu notice. The bench also includes Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Mandukhel, Justice Athar Minullah, Justice Musarat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

At the beginning of the hearing, Lawyer Hamid Khan said that we have filed a petition yesterday from LHC Bar, the largest bar which has filed a petition. On which the Chief Justice of Pakistan said, Hamid Khan, who knows the law more than you? Gone are the days when the Chief Justice had the will, now there is a three-member committee that decides the cases. Neither the committee should use the authority of the court nor the court should use the authority of the committee.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that a new trend has started that lawyers are saying to take suo motu notice, the lawyer who talks about taking suo motu notice should leave the practice.

Today we are bringing back the era of Goebbels, propaganda! (Joseph Goebbels was Hitler's Minister of Propaganda), remarked Qazi Faez.

The Chief Justice asked the lawyer Hamid Khan if he has filed any petition, then tell the committee. The petitions are published in the newspapers before they are filed, is it for pressure? I don't come under anyone's pressure.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that a new thing has started, lawyers are saying to take suo motu notice, the lawyer who talks about taking suo motu notice should leave the practice.

He stated that if there is any kind of attack on the independence of the judiciary, I and my colleagues will be the first to stand up. We do not like interference in the work of the judiciary. If someone has another agenda that I should do this or that, then become the Chief Justice. We will not take pressure, we are working administratively, we did not meet at home in secret from the executive, we did not meet in the chamber, we met in an administrative capacity, the difference in the law is clear.

Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan said that the federal government had not taken any initiative for the inquiry, the Supreme Court had suggested two names, Nasir-ul-Mulk and Tasaaduq Jillani. The Law Minister Met Jillani in Lahore and told him that his name has been nominated.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan said that we did not hold a regular meeting in the Chamber of Commerce, but in the Supreme Court. In the meeting, the Prime Minister was sitting as the head of the legislature, the administration of the judiciary was sitting on the other side.

The AGP stated that Tasaaduq Jilani said if you finalize the Terms of Reference (TORs), then I will respond. Tassaduq was asked again and then the name was announced. There was an impression that it was a commission created by the federal government, Justice Retired Jilani asked which place the commission would be allotted, he was told that the commission would work in the building of the Federal Shariat Court.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa added that we suggested such names which should be criticized at least, wierd things were said about them on social media, I felt very ashamed. Such things are happening in a civilized society, I don't understand where are we heading. If you have any disagreement, you could write to your bodies, Tassaduq Jilani is a gentleman, he will not answer, he was a gentleman, so he refused.

He continued to say that if there were such personal attacks and such an atmosphere was created, then who would do such a national service? Weird things were started on social media about the former Chief Justice. I was embarrassed that a gentleman whom we had nominated for the commission got attacked.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan further said: “I believe in democracy, I have consulted on every occasion, have we decided to destroy this country and nation, we have stopped reading the constitution, the prime minister is also the administrative head and a to some extent, the legislature also has heads”.

Qazi Faez Isa further stated that since I became the Chief Justice, I ask everyone to work within their constitutional limits. We do not have the authority to form a commission in the constitution, the authority to form a commission is given to the government, we consulted and gave names.

The Attorney General said that a person named Mirza Iftikhar made a Vlog against Justice Qazi Faez Isa and threatened to kill him, the matter came to the court and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was directed to conduct an inquiry, the FIA removed the terrorism provisions from it. Qazi named Shahzad Akbar in the statement of 161.

Mansoor Usman said that Qazi Faez Isa took the name Advisor to the Prime Minister on Home Affairs and then DG ISI Faiz Hameed, but then the matter was shelved and the two Chief Justices retired in the meantime. This was not done after this letter.

The Attorney General said that on one hand, the independence of the judiciary, on the other hand, the reputation of the executive is at risk. I assure you that the federal government will not take any action that affects the independence of the judiciary. The independence of the judiciary is a social contract between the state and the citizens. The government will provide all possible support for the freedom of judiciary.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan said that pressure can come from colleagues, seniors, juniors, family and friends. We are taking the letter of judges very seriously. There are many aspects of this letter. It mentions the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), its authority is clear. A famous case was that of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, on which the Supreme Court recently ruled. The judges must be sure that there is no danger to them, not that if there is a complaint, they should fall on the neck of the judges.

He continued that I cannot use the power of contempt of court of any other court, the court which will be in contempt will use this power itself. I don't want to point fingers at those who left, I just want to talk. There are two things, inquiry and bringing out the facts, who should do these two things. This is the matter of Mr. Jillani's commission, either police do it or FIA or agencies, we did not want this inquiry to be done by other organizations. We want those to inquire who understand the sensitivity of the matter, now who should investigate the matter is the biggest question.

The Chief Justice said that he was the senior judge after Umar Atta Bandial, then there was Sardar Tariq, then Ijaz-ul-Ahsan. My secretary said that the judges of the IHC want to meet me, we have never prohibited any judge from contempt of court. If anyone interferes with the work of the judge, definitely contempt of court action should be taken.

Qazi stated that the permission of the Supreme Court or the Judicial Council is not required for contempt of court proceedings against anyone. The letter of the judges of the IHC came to Chief Justice Bandial, he neither invited me nor after me Senior Judge Sardar Tariq in the meeting. Justice Bandial had this meeting with Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, we were not told about it at that time.

He added that the constitution of Pakistan has given the power of contempt of court, no law can weaken the power of contempt of court. If civil judge was facing humiliation, he has his own authority. If there is contempt of the High Court judge, he has his own authority, it is not our job to insult anyone.

Chief Justice said that there is a lot of dirt in the society. If the court gives a notice of contempt of court, it has to answer. We had the issue of election, there were bets that there would be no election, I had said that this job belongs to the Election Commission, which was our work, we did it and let the institutions do their work.

He stated that since I became the Chief Justice, no one can say that my work is being interfered with, why are lawyers coming to me, go to their respective forums, an unsigned letter of 300 lawyers was circulated.

The Chief Justice said that in the letter, it is stated that the response of the Judiciary is needed, no more response can be given by the institution. He immediately met Prime Minister, had two full coutrt meetings. We cannot call the Prime Minister in the court, he has immunity in the constitution. If we give a notice, the secretary will come. I called the Prime Minister and gave a clear message that there will be no compromise on the independence of the judiciary.

He said that it is not our job to disrespect anyone. On one side is the parliament, on the other side is the president and on the third side is the government. We respect everyone and expect respect from everyone. Ig we do anything wrong, we will be caught immediately. The system will work only when everyone does their job. We are showing our accountability, we tried to correct the judge who was abused, we also acknowledged the mistakes that were made in the previous cases. I stand by the judges, if nothing is proven to a judge, I respect him.