Tag: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

  • ‘Altaf Hussain is Nelson Mandela’: Fawad Ch responds to Farogh Naseem’s remarks about Khan

    ‘Altaf Hussain is Nelson Mandela’: Fawad Ch responds to Farogh Naseem’s remarks about Khan

    Former law minister Farogh Naseem revealed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was the one who ordered filing a reference against Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

    “It was Imran Khan himself who had ordered filing a reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” Farogh claimed on Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.

    The former law minister was responding to Khan’s admission that filing a presidential reference for the removal of Justice Qazi Faez Isa was a mistake and that he had been misguided by relevant officials about the facts of the case.

    Naseem further stated that a reference against Justice Isa was filed because of a report by the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU), which was headed by Shahzad Akbar back then.

    “This is total nonsense. Around seven in the morning, I got a call from Imran Khan sahib, Naeem ul Haq was alive at the time. He [Khan] asked that since the eradication of corruption was the PTI government’s agenda, therefore the reference should be filed immediately.”

    “Let’s assume for a minute that I was behind filing the reference, but the decision-maker was Imran Khan sahib and the president of Pakistan. They now want to attract Hamid Khan, who was once Justice Isa’s lawyer.”

    Responding to Naseem’s allegations against Khan, former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “Altaf Hussain is Nelson Mandela :)”

    Farogh Naseem also revealed that former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari wished to be defence and foreign minister when PTI was in power.

    Earlier, senior lawyer and former PTI leader Hamid Khan said that Khan confessed to committing blunders that cost PTI politically.

    Hamid said that Khan admitted that he was misled on Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s issue, adding that he had told Khan that the reference was a mistake because the judge was an honest man.

  • Imran Khan says ‘mistake’ made when filing a presidential reference against SC judge Faez Isa

    During a meeting with the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF), former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan accepted his mistake of filing a presidential reference for the removal of Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, reports Hasnaat Malik for The Express Tribune.

    As per the news outlet, several attendees of the meeting have said that Khan thinks that the then relevant officials had misguided his government and Khan himself was not interested in pursuing the reference against Justice Faez Isa. Former Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan had convinced him that Justice Isa was an honest judge and he was misled in this case.

    A senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer said that Khan believed that one section within the judiciary was annoyed because of this reference case.

    In 2020, Khan accused Justice Faez of concealing assets and 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 Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and after a months-long trial, in November a full bench of the apex court dismissed the petition against him.

    The purpose of the meeting with ILF was to discuss PTI’s social media activists who were being harassed by law enforcement agencies.

    PTI Secretary Asad Umar has announced that a petition will be filed against these unlawful and illegal raids and harassment of the party workers in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) today (Thursday).

  • Justice Ayesha Malik confirmed for Supreme Court Judge, needs President’s formal approval

    Justice Ayesha Malik confirmed for Supreme Court Judge, needs President’s formal approval

    The Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday confirmed the nomination of Justice Ayesha Malik to the Supreme Court (SC).

    Justice Malik only requires the president’s formal assent to become the first woman to be elevated to the country’s top court.

    Justice Malik will remain a judge of the Supreme Court until March 2031 and may even have a chance to become the first woman to hold the post of chief justice.

    After a session on January 6, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) recommended Justice Malik’s name by a majority of five votes to four.

    Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, senior judge Justice Umar Ata Bandial, former judge Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Law Minister Barrister Farogh Naseem, and Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan had supported Justice Malik’s candidature, while Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain opposed the selection.

  • Public sector and military hospitals should be open to general public: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    Public sector and military hospitals should be open to general public: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has suggested that public sector and military hospitals should be open to the general public, reported Dawn.

    Justice Isa had recently contracted Covid-19 despite being vaccinated. His statement comes in relevance to the grave situation with the surging cases of Covid-19 in Pakistan.

    In a statement, Justice Isa said: “Since we are in a situation no less grave than a war, all public sector hospitals, including combined military hospitals and other armed forces hospitals, should be opened immediately to serve the people.”

    “Otherwise, class and social divides will further be exacerbated and people continue to suffer and die because of an unequal system,” said Justice Isa.

     “My wife and I were one of the initial lucky few in the country who were fully vaccinated as both of us were above 60; courtesy of the Chinese government. We took every precaution, including always wearing masks in public places, yet contracted the highly infectious Delta variant of the disease,” read the statement.

    “Even with the vaccination, I still had to be hospitalised. I am receiving excellent treatment from very competent doctors and attendants at the Quaid-i-Azam International Hospital. Such treatment is not within the reach of most [people],” added Justice Isa.

  • Justice Isa’s review petition against verdict on presidential reference accepted

    Justice Isa’s review petition against verdict on presidential reference accepted

    The Supreme Court has granted the review petition of Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

    A 10-member full court bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial was hearing Justice Isa’s case in the apex court on Monday.

    The Supreme Court judge and his wife had challenged the apex court’s order on the presidential reference seeking the removal of Justice Isa for failing to disclose foreign properties of his family members.

    After completion of the hearing, Justice Bandial, in his remarks, had said that the bench needed time for consultation.

    Justice Bandial had last week remarked that the Supreme Court would not look at a report on Justice Qazi Faez Isa and his family’s financial matters, compiled by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and will leave it to the Supreme Judicial Council to decide what to do with it.

    The full court bench has been seized with the review petition filed by Justice Isa.

    Additional Attorney General (AAG) Amir Rehman, representing the government, told the bench in Friday that the Supreme Court had given its verdict on the case by keeping into account all the facts and the law.

    He added that the bench had also heard the judge in question.

    “This review petition can therefore not be accepted merely on the assertion that the reference was not heard properly,” Rehman had argued.

  • Qazi Faez Isa’s wife moves court for contempt case against Fawad Chaudhry

    Qazi Faez Isa’s wife moves court for contempt case against Fawad Chaudhry

    The wife of Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has moved court for a contempt case against Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry over a tweet by the latter.

    Sarina Isa’s application seeking the case against Fawad comes days after he tweeted that speeches were being made for the past one week, but reply would result in “concern” or “contempt”.

    The minister had said that those inclined towards politics must contest elections to realise their popularity and acceptability.

    In a later tweet, Fawad had also dedicated a poem to the judge.

    Meanwhile, “#IStandWithFawadChaudhary” is trending on Twitter.

  • Justice Isa says order banning him from hearing cases against PM wasn’t shared with him

    A day after Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed restrained Justice Qazi Faez Isa from hearing cases against Prime Minister Imran Khan in a judgement pertaining to the development funds allegedly doled out to the lawmakers, Justice Isa wrote a letter to the SC registrar saying why the judgement wasn’t shared with him even though it was a “standard practice”.

    On Thursday,  the CJP-led bench ruled that Justice Isa “should not hear matters involving the prime minister”.

    “The Hon. Chief Justice of Pakistan, therefore, observed that in these circumstances it would not be proper for the judge [Isa] to hear the matter considering that he had already filed a petition against the Prime Minister of Pakistan, in his personal capacity. Therefore, to uphold the principle of unbiasedness and impartiality, it would be in the interest of justice that the judge should not hear matters” concerning PM Imran Khan, the order on the SC website read.

    In response to this ban, Justice Isa wrote a letter to the SC registrar. “I have learnt that an order/judgment (don’t know which one) was passed in the subject case on 11 February 2021, and released to the media. This is shocking since, as yet, I have not received the file with the order/judgement.”

    “It is settled practice that after the judge heading the bench (in this case, the CJP) writes the order/judgement, it is sent to the next senior judge, and to on; however, Justice ljaz ul Ahsan apparently received it, but I never did, and the world knows of it before I’ve seen it,” the judge complained.

    Justice Isa asked why the order wasn’t shared with him and release to the media even before it was shared with him. “Kindly let me know: (1) Why the order/judgment was not sent to me, (2) Why the settled practice of sending it to the 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? (5) And, provide me with the case file so I may finally read the order/judegment,” he wrote.

    BAR CONCERNED OVER RULING:

    Balochistan Bar Council, in a statement, expressed concerns over the ruling banning the senior judge from hearing the cases involving the premier. It regretted that such a directive was against legal and constitutional principles, especially when a 10-judge Supreme Court bench had already quashed the presidential reference filed against Justice Isa — a reference which they said was based on malice.

     Former Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairman Abid Saqi said that one set of judges of a constituted bench could not issue a directive to the other bench or any of the judges of the bench, not to hear a matter, as per a report in Dawn.

  • Who ‘WhatsApp-ed’ Justice Qazi Faez Isa against PM Imran?

    Soon after claiming that it was the son of Pakistan Muslim League (PML) leader Chaudhry Shujaat who had “WhatsApp-ed” to inform Justice Qazi Faez Isa that he received development funds from Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, journalist Gharida Farooqi has tweeted a clarification.

    As per the details, Gharida on Thursday tweeted quoting sources that it was Ch Salik who had sent Justice Isa the details and proof of the premier sending him development funds.

    “The PM [had] today submitted [his] reply to the Supreme Court (SC) that the news regarding funds was fake,” she wrote while mentioning Thursday’s hearing of the apex court case over notice of Rs500 million uplift funds in light of the forthcoming Senate polls.

    It wasn’t later that the journalist once again took to Twitter and clarified that it wasn’t Salik.

    “I got a call from Ch Salik after my [earlier] tweet. He categorically denied it and said he didn’t even know Justice Isa. Whereas, Justice Isa said so in the SC today while referring to NA 65 [constituency],” she said.

    It may be noted that Ch Salik of the PML had been elected to the National Assembly from the said constituency in a 2018 by-election.

    While Gharidah’s clarification led to a spat between her and PM Imran’s aide Dr Shahbaz Gill, who said that the SC had dismissed the case, here’s what journalist Umar Cheema had to say:

    Earlier, the Supreme Court disposed of the case, declaring PM Imran’s response satisfactory.

    During the hearing, Justice Isa had inquired if it was the premier’s job to distribute envelopes of money to members of the National Assembly.

    The judge revealed he had received documents via WhatsApp indicating that heavy funds had been provided to a lawmaker from the ruling PTI’s coalition party from the NA-65 constituency, reports said.

    “Can funds be given to certain constituencies? Is it in accordance with the law to give funds for the road,” he inquired.

    The Attorney-General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan responded to the apex court judge, saying the WhatsApp documents “are your complaint and would be reviewed”.

    “I am not the complainant, I am just pointing [it] out; perhaps, you did not listen to me,” the judge replied.

    In response, the AGP said, “You have been sharing your observations for a long time. It is I who has not been heard. You received a message on your WhatsApp, so you are a complainant.”

  • Justice Isa holds referendum on country’s press freedom situation in court; no hands raised

    Justice Isa holds referendum on country’s press freedom situation in court; no hands raised

    Supreme Court’s (SC) Justice Qazi Faez Isa has expressed serious concerns over the press freedom situation in Pakistan, holding a referendum on freedom of press in his court.

    “Tell me… is media free in Pakistan?” Justice Isa asked the attorney general while hearing the case regarding local government elections with Justice Maqbool Baqir.

    The top court judge asked the reporters present in the courtroom to raise their hands if media was free in the country. Even though a number of media persons were present, nobody raised their hands.

    At this, Justice Isa said, “The people who are behind curbs on media must go to jails.”

    “The country is systematically being damaged. The poor are crying,” he added.

    Justice Baqir, on the other hand, remarked that a judge should avoid discussing such things but for how long could one remain silent on a situation such as the prevailing one. “It is not an ideal situation.”

    Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) submitted schedule of local bodies elections to the court.

    The election watchdog, in its reply to the apex court, stated that local government polls will be held in Punjab on July 20 while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Cantonment Boards will hold the election on April 8.

    The commission further said that decision regarding date of the elections in Sindh and Balochistan will be taken on February 11.

    Last Thursday, the top court had asked the ECP to furnish a comprehensive reply within a week on holding the polls.

  • FIA to probe hacking of SC Justice Faez Isa’s cell phone

    FIA to probe hacking of SC Justice Faez Isa’s cell phone

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will trace the suspects responsible for hacking the phone of senior Supreme Court judge Qazi Faez Isa.

    The News reported that the FIA team would comprise forensic and cyber exports who would identify the hackers and their motives for targetting the judge. It will also probe the potential theft of the judge’s phone data, email and messages, during the hacking attempt. It hasn’t been decided as to who would head the FIA team to probe the cyber attack.

    On Tuesday, Supreme Court Registrar Khawaja Daud Ahmad requested FIA Director General Wajid Zia to form a team of experts to probe this phone hacking issue.

    “I am directed to state that the personal cell phone of Justice Qazi Faez Isa, judge of this court, was hacked on Jan 29, 2021 (Saturday) and his lordship learnt of this early Sunday morning. I am therefore directed to request you [Wajid Zia] to depute a technical team to assess his lordship’s cell phone in respect of hacking status and apprise about the same at the earliest,” stated Registrar Supreme Court’s letter quoted by Geo News.

    The SC had also issued an official statement to inform the public that the personal cell phone of Justice Qazi Faez Isa was hacked.

    “There is suspicion that misleading communication can be made from his lordship’s number to anyone with ulterior motives,” read the SCP’s official statement. “Therefore, the communication purportedly made from his lordship’s cell phone, which his lordship had not sent, may be treated as fake and false,” the official statement added.

    IT expert Dr Umar Saif, while talking about the hacking of the judge’s phone, said there were two ways to hack a cell phone: one is to take over other person’s Whatsapp by stealing the confirmation code, while the second, more sophisticated one, is to hack the entire operating system of the cell phone.

    Both techniques are being used to hack phones in Pakistan, he said, adding that an Israeli cybersecurity firm built a software named Pegasus to hack the phones in 2016.

    Pegasus malware is spyware that can hack any device and steal a variety of data from the infected device, including text messages, emails, key logs, audio and information from installed applications, such as Facebook or Instagram. The spyware can record conversations and video as well as snap pictures from the device’s camera.

    The malware was created by NSO Group, an Israeli cybersecurity firm founded in 2010, and has been around since at least the summer of 2016.