'I was barred from performing my constitutional duties,' says Justice Isa

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court's Justice Qazi Faez Isa has alleged that rather than allowing him to investigate any wrongdoing in the release of Rs500 million in development funds by Prime Minister Imran Khan to lawmakers, he was "barred" from performing his constitutional duties.

The judge made the objection in a note he sent to Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed following his removal from the five-member bench formed to hear the case.

The judge wrote that the step was taken after the statement given by Prime Minister Imran Khan and it is "unconstitutional".

Read more: Justice Qazi Faez Isa can’t hear cases about PM, says Supreme Court

Justice Isa said that a two-member bench comprising him and Justice Maqbool Baqar had taken up the issue initially. He added that the two-member bench had adjourned the hearing on February 10 and wrote the order that if the PM’s response is "unsatisfactory" then the matter will be sent to the chief justice.

The judge said that the same day, CJP Gulzar Ahmed formed a five-member bench to hear the case.

He added that he had written to the chief justice following the formation of the bench on the exclusion of Justice Baqar and the larger bench. However, the chief justice "never replied" to Justice Isa over the matter and neither did he respond to the objections regarding the issue.

Justice Isa, further wrote, that the formation of the bench has raised doubts as to why there is an "extraordinary interest" in the case. He also claimed that questions raised about the "impartiality" of the judicial system and public confidence were not answered.

Read more: Is it PM Imran Khan's job to distribute envelopes of money, asks Justice Isa

The judge has further claimed that CJP Gulzar Ahmed "did not even provide a verbal response" when asked about the exclusion of Justice Baqar from the bench. He has also alleged that the case files reveal that the file was submitted to the CJP on “verbal orders”.

Justice Isa says that the chief justice by "exercising his discretion" and "inappropriately constituting" the five-member bench has raised "unnecessary questions".

Justice Isa asked to not hear cases against PM

The controversy began after Justice Qazi Faez Isa was asked by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed not to hear cases involving the Prime Minister of Pakistan as he has filed a petition against the premier in his personal capacity.

Read more: Justice Isa asks how world knows of CJP's verdict before he has seen it

The development came last week in a hearing pertaining to the release of Rs500 million development fund to each lawmaker directed by the prime minister ahead of the Senate polls.

A five-member bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Ijazul Ahsen heard the matter.

“In these circumstances, it would not be proper for the judge to hear the matter considering that he had already filed a petition against the Prime Minister of Pakistan, in his personal capacity,” says the written order issued by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

The chief justice further noted down that in order to uphold the principle of un-biasness and impartiality, it would be in the interest of justice that the Judge (Justice Isa) should not hear matters involving the prime minister of Pakistan.

Read more: Action to be taken if lawmakers' development funds given out of order, says SC

The court noted that Justice Isa sought to place on record photocopies of certain documents reportedly received by him from some anonymous source through a WhatsApp message.

The copies of those documents were reportedly handed over by the judge to other members of the bench. A copy was also handed over to the learned Attorney General for Pakistan.

The court further noted the judge (Qazi Faez Isa) also stated that he was unsure if the documents were genuine.