Tag: Judges

  • Pervez Ashraf warns Supreme Court not to interfere in politics

    Pervez Ashraf warns Supreme Court not to interfere in politics

    Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) Raja Pervez Ashraf has taken a strong stance against what he has termed “interference” by the Supreme Court in the affairs of the parliament.

    In an interview, the Speaker said that if the Parliament is restricted to legislating only what the Supreme Court wants, then what is the need for elections.

    Ashraf said that “[the superior judiciary] should take over the legislative business if parliament’s lawmaking authority is unacceptable.”

    He also warned the top court against intruding in the parliament’s domain, saying “others will also try to enter your domain”.

    He asserted that parliamentarians themselves should resolve all political matters in the parliament or at any other forum on their own.

    Referring to alleged differences between Supreme Court judges, the former Prime Minister (PM) said: “Division in politics is necessary, but division in Supreme Court is dangerous.” He said the Supreme Court can’t function if it is divided.

  • Supreme Court reserves decision over postponement of Punjab and KP elections

    The Supreme Court has reserved its decision over Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) elections and will announce the decision tomorrow (Tuesday).

    The hearing of the case has been going on for the past week with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) demanding immediate elections.

    On February 22, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial took a suo motu notice of the delay in elections, forming a larger bench to hear the case but later many top judges excused themselves from the hearing.

    Today, the hearing was headed by a three-judge bench comprising Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Bandial.

    Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lawyers Irfan Qadir and Sajeel Swati, PTI lawyer Ali Zafar, and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) counsel Farooq H. Naek were present in the courtroom.

    At the outset of the hearing, Naek came to the rostrum. Justice Bandial asked the lawyer if PPP had ended its boycott against the court hearing to which the latter replied that he had not boycotted the proceedings.

    Naek replied in the affirmative and said that “we never boycotted the hearing”.

    At one point during the hearing, the CJP noted that harmony among judges was crucial for the Supreme Court. He observed that while judicial proceedings were made public, consultations among judges were considered internal matters.

  • PTI says they now respect next Supreme Court Chief Justice Faez Isa who they had taken to court

    PTI says they now respect next Supreme Court Chief Justice Faez Isa who they had taken to court

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Fawad Chaudhry has said in an interview that the party respects Justice Qazi Faez Isa who is set to become the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) later this year.

    In an interview with WE news, he said, “We have a relationship of respect with Justice Faez Isa”, adding that he disapproved the idea of filing a reference against the top judge.

    He said when the current government files a reference against the judiciary, it means they want to put the judges under pressure.

    “The government must allow the judiciary to function independently,” he asserted.

    In 2020, Justice Faez was accused of concealing assets and PTI filed a reference against him. Justice Isa then asked the Supreme Court that a full bench be constituted, a plea that was accepted by then CJP Asif Saeed Khosa and after a months-long trial, a full bench of the apex court dismissed the petition against him.

    Later, Khan himself accepted his mistake of filing a presidential reference against the judge.

    During the interview, Fawad Chaudhry once again said that the former ruling party is ready for talks. He mentioned that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir has also talked about the consensus but as of yet no effort has been made.

    Talking about PM Shehbaz, Chaudhry said that he is running from the elections and is being “non-serious”.

    He claimed that “they [government] want martial law in the country”.

  • ‘Cabal of five’: Maryam Nawaz doesn’t hold back in criticising judiciary

    ‘Cabal of five’: Maryam Nawaz doesn’t hold back in criticising judiciary

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Thursday criticised two sitting judges of the Supreme Court, listing them as members of a “cabal of five” who conspired against her father, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

    Addressing a public rally in Sargodha, she put up a video screen showing pictures of the five people she held responsible, saying: “The people of Sargodha should also see the ones behind the conspiracy”.

    The pictures included ex-Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, former chief justices Asif Khosa and Saqib Nisar, and two sitting Supreme Court judges: Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, who are currently part of a top court bench hearing a suo motu case to determine who has the constitutional responsibility and authority to announce the date for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    The PML-N leader said that even the country’s bar councils had protested against the inclusion of the two judges in the bench hearing the suo motu case.

    One of the two serving judges shown on the screen, Maryam said, was part of the bench that disqualified Nawaz in the Panama Papers case. “He is dreaming of becoming the chief justice. It has been five to six years since Nawaz was disqualified but he is still sitting as a judge in every case against Nawaz,” said Maryam Nawaz in a thinly veiled reference to Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

    The PML-N leader claimed that when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 2014 sit-in failed, ex-chief justice Asif Khosa told PTI chief Imran Khan to bring the Panama case before him so that Nawaz could be disqualified.

    She alleged that ex-spy chief Faiz Hameed is “still sitting somewhere and operating,” behind the scenes.

    Maryam also played the audio purportedly featuring former Punjab chief minister Elahi and one of the top court judges.

    Maryam further said that the two top court judges had taken notice of the transfer of the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Dogar and “brought back Imran’s man”.

  • ‘Highlight previous history of PML-N as to how the party attacked judiciary’: PM Khan directs party spokespersons

    ‘Highlight previous history of PML-N as to how the party attacked judiciary’: PM Khan directs party spokespersons

    During a meeting with his spokespersons, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Monday said the alleged audio leak of former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar was devised by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He instructed his spokespersons to highlight the previous history of the PML-N as to how the party had attacked the judiciary and maligned judges, reports Dawn.

    “But their [PML-N] bad tactics will not work this time,” he added.

    “The government stands by the state institutions,” said PM Khan.

    Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday said that the PML-N should come out of “leaks, fake videos, and games” and clarify allegations against them on the basis of merit.

    Taking to Twitter, Fawad wrote: “Nawaz & Co, come out of fake videos, leaks, and games and answer the allegations levelled against you on the basis of merit.”

    “These dramas have completely flopped. If you do not wish to be imprisoned, then you should return the nation’s wealth,” said Fawad, adding, ” This is a simple solution, which they are complicating as a way out.”

    The minister’s comments come in relevance to the leaked audio of an alleged conversation claiming that CJP Nisar was the person who passed on the directions of handing down conviction to PML-N supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz only because the “institutions” wanted the former prime minister penalised in order to bring ahead Imran Khan. Ahmed Noorani reported this for FactFocus.

  • Chief Justice Gulzar rejects accusations of promoting ‘favourite’ judges

    Chief Justice Gulzar rejects accusations of promoting ‘favourite’ judges

     Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed has said that the recent agitation by the legal fraternity was “totally uncalled for”, reports Dawn.

    Reacting to the lawyers’ September 9 convention, which accused the judiciary of favouritism in the appointment of superior court judges, CJP said, “There had been 41 judges in the judicial history of Pakistan who were elevated to the Supreme Court bypassing the senior-most judges of the respective high courts, but none of such appointments was ever objected to earlier by the lawyers.”

    “Still my doors are open and representatives of the lawyers can come any time to discuss matters of significance,” added the chief justice.

    “The lawyers should have come to us instead of launching a sort of one-sided agitation without any discussion with the CJP on the issue,” he observed. This time, he noted, no one came to him for discussion.

  • IHC suspends plot allotments to judges in Islamabad

    IHC suspends plot allotments to judges in Islamabad

    Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah suspended allotment of plots to the capital’s judiciary in sectors F-14 and F-15, observing that this award of land was a conflict of interest, reported Dawn.

    The court also issued a notice to the attorney general and sought an explanation from the Ministry of Housing and Works on the policy of distribution of plots among a few segments of society.

    Justice Athar Minallah was hearing a petition filed by property owners in villages Thalla Syedan and Jhangi Syedan in Islamabad district against the acquisition of their land.

    During the hearing of the matter, Justice Minallah remarked: “It has been reported that the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority had recently held a ballot for allotment of plots in F-14 and F-15. The list indicates that virtually every judicial officer of the district courts of Islamabad, who are expected to resolve and adjudicate upon the grievances and rights of the affected landowners, is a beneficiary.”

    “It, prima facie, raises serious questions regarding conflict of interest because the plots are given to the beneficiaries at substantially lower prices than the current market rates and thus each beneficiary has a financial interest,” said Justice Minallah.

    “Moreover, astonishingly the list also includes those judicial officers who have been dismissed on account of misconduct or corruption,” added Justice Minallah.

    Justice Minallah observed that the judicial officer who was convicted and sentenced by this court was also one of the beneficiaries.

    As per the record of the FGEHA, three sacked additional district and sessions judges — Pervaizul Qadir Memon, Raja Khurram Ali Khan, and Jahangir Awan — were allotted a Kanal plot each in F-14 and F-15 while two former civil judges, Adnan Jamali and Amir Khalil, were given plots measuring 14 marlas each in these sectors.

    Last week, two special assistants to the prime minister (SAPM), judges of the superior judiciary, and top bureaucrats were among those who had been allocated residential plots in Islamabad’s F-14 and F-15 sectors.

    Judges of the superior judiciary, as well as those of the subordinate judiciary, and a few journalists had been placed in Category I — plots measuring one Kanal.

    While the judges of all the provincial high courts have been allotted plots in F-14 and F-15, not a single judge from the Islamabad High Court was among the applicants.

  • PM’s aide, judges allotted plots in Islamabad

    PM’s aide, judges allotted plots in Islamabad

    Two special assistants to the prime minister (SAPM), judges of the superior judiciary, and top bureaucrats are among those who have been allocated residential plots in Islamabad’s F-14 and F-15 sectors, reported Dawn.

    Federal Housing Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema chaired the proceedings. Over 4,500 applicants were declared successful.

    A list was posted by the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) on its website after the ballot on Tuesday.

    According to the list posted on the website, Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed has been allotted a plot in Sector F-15/3.

    Dr Waqar Masood Khan, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Finance (SAPM), was given a plot in F-15/4, while Dr Shahzad Arbab, the SAPM on Establishment, got a plot in Sector F-14/2.

    Judges of the superior judiciary, as well as those of the subordinate judiciary, and a few journalists have been placed in Category I — plots measuring one Kanal.

    Eight incumbent judges of the apex court are featured in the list. Seven retired judges of the Supreme Court were declared successful. Two former director-generals of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) — a former inspector general of Islamabad, the Secretary to Cabinet Division, and a number of other federal secretaries and bureaucrats working in BS-22 and 21 have been allotted plots.

    While the judges of all the provincial high courts have been allotted plots in F-14 and F-15, not a single judge from the Islamabad High Court was among the applicants.