Supreme Court allows Justice Isa to argue his case himself

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APP
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Web Desk
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Senior Supreme Court judge, Justice Qazi Faez Isa. — Photo courtesy Supreme Court website
  • The Supreme Court, on June 19, 2020, had quashed a presidential reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
  • Justice Isa has sought removal of paragraphs 2 to 11 of the verdict.
  • He has been allowed to argue his case himself; court to decide on request for live broadcast of proceedings.


ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Justice Qazi Faez Isa to argue his case regarding a review petition against the June 19, 2020 order.

A ten-member SC larger bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the review petition seeking removal of paragraphs 2 to 11 of the June 19, 2020 verdict.

The apex court, on June 19, 2020, had quashed a presidential reference filed against SC judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

During the course of proceedings, the court allowed Justice Isa to argue his case after receiving a written application by his counsel Muneer A Malik regarding his inability to argue the case due to illness.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that although there is no mention of the live broadcast of parliamentary proceedings in the Constitution, he requests that PTV cover it live.

He argued that freedom of expression is a basic human right and asked why the court isn't using the technology if it is available.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa — a brief profile

Justice Bandial said that there were logistic and practical concerns about the live telecast of court proceedings.

It is a policy and administrative matter, rather than a judicial one, he added.

The judge said that the full court would review whether the live broadcast could be allowed or not.

If the court agreed to direct coverage, the state machinery would be used, the judge added.

Justice Bandial said that no private camera would be allowed in the court and called for the presence of journalists in court rather than "capitalists".

When asked who would represent the federal government Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman said that he just received instructions to receive notice.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that surprisingly, it had not been decided yet who would represent the federal government in the case.

The hearing of the case was adjourned until tomorrow (Wednesday).