ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Judge Qazi Faiz Issa has sought a copy of the apex court’s decision restraining him from hearing cases against the prime minister.
In a letter to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Justice Isa who was part of the bench expressed ‘shock’ that the judgment was released to the media before it was sent to him.
The letter by Justice Isa to the court registrar, dated February 12, says that as per “settled practice” the judgment, once written by the judge heading the bench, is sent to the next senior most judge.
He said Justice Ijazul Ahsan has apparently received it but he never did, adding that “the world knows of it before I’ve seen it”. It must be mentioned Justice Isa is higher in seniority than Justice Ahsan.
In his letter to the registrar, Justice Isa raised four questions, along with the demand that the case file should be sent to him so he could read it. The questions are as follows: 1) Why the order/judgement was not sent to me? 2) Why the settled practice of sending it (the judgment) to next senior judge was not followed? 3) Why was it released to the media before I read it (let alone had the opportunity to sign it in agreement/disagreement)? 4) Who ordered its release to the media?
The letter comes just a day after Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed dismissed a case concerning allegations that the prime minister had distributed development funds among lawmakers.
READ MORE: SC restrains Justice Qazi Faez Isa from hearing cases against PM
The top judge observed written order that Justice Qazi Faez Isa should not hear cases involving the prime minister as he had filed a case against him in his personal capacity.
According to the written order, Chief Justice Ahmed “observed that 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. The development came during a case pertaining to the release of Rs500 million development funds to each lawmaker directed by the prime minister.
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.”
The court noted that Qazi Faez Isa sought to place on record photocopies of certain documents reportedly received by him from some anonymous source through a WhatsApp message.
It further said the copies of those documents were handed over by the judge to other members of the bench. A copy was also handed over to the learned Attorney General for Pakistan. Judge Qazi Faez Isa also stated that he was unsure if the documents were genuine.
Earlier, the Supreme Court disposed of the case, declaring the prime minister’s response satisfactory in the release of the development funds.
