An interesting exchange occurred between The News’ journalist Fakhar Durrani and lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii on X, formerly Twitter, regarding the alleged “judicial package” or extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa.
The exchange between the two started when Abdul Moiz took to X to condemn Senator Irfan Siddiqui’s recent op-ed in Jang magazine commending Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who is the next in line to become the CJP.
Moiz wrote, “This soft signalling by the PMLN through irfan sb of their acceptance of SMASH as CJP is frankly too little and too late. Not that it would have made a difference to begin with.”
Fakhar Durrani disagreed with Moiz saying, “Jaferii bhai my humble suggestion, if someone’s propaganda is exposed they should accept their mistake gracefully instead of blaming others that they have failed.”
He further said that Express Tribune’s court reporter Hasnat Malik was the first to report in a May 16 article that CJP Isa did not want an extension.
Jafrii took Fakhar’s bait, asking him why Hasnat has consistently reported about the alleged judicial package.
Fakhar Durrani replied, “Have you relied on the sourced material which he published on Express Tribune? Is there any report published in Express Tribune which resulted in shaping your opinion that QFE is adamant to get extension? Or you are solely relying on his YouTube reports?”
He stated that journalists must follow a code of conduct and editorial policies when publishing on a credible platform. In contrast, YouTube is an “unchecked platform where there’s no editorial check and balance.”
Jafrii sarcastically replied that one cannot deem a source credible and non-credible simultaneously, referring to Hasnat Malik’s stories.
Fakhar then replied in detail, saying, “As a lawyer, whatever you say in the street/outside courtroom, can you repeat the same before the court? Every profession has some set of principles, ethics and code of conduct.”
Durrani further stated, “The same applies to journalism. When you report for your official media organisation, you have to follow certain principles and answer your editors’ questions. Most of the time, you have to prove your story with evidence before the editors, and then it gets published.”
Abdul Moiz did not back down and replied, “It is because of the YouTube journalism of @HasnaatMalik @Matiullahjan919 @AsadAToor @saqibbashir156 @AhmedASarfraz @SohailRashid8 and co that qazi sb became chief. Their journalism today has allowed the legal fraternity and the judiciary to galvanise together and see the forest for the trees.”
Fakhar Durrani then replied in detail to YouTuber Matiaullah Jan’s dialogue with reporters Hasnaat Malik and Saqib Bashir and the image of a letter by CJP Isa dated August 28 in which he explicitly stated that he wanted the meeting regarding High Court Justices on May 3, but due to majority opinion, it was deferred.
He asked, “Do you think these journalists can’t read the minutes of the meeting or a letter. They do. But even then they are trolling and propagating that QFE deferred the meeting because he wants to get extension. Lastly. I never get excited. One can argue when you come up with logic. If a learned lawyer like you start labeling any dissenting voice as if they are in sync with establishment, there will be no debate.”
