Tag: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

  • ‘Don’t overstep limits,’ SC judge tells Sarina Isa for questioning ‘impartiality’ of CJP

    ‘Don’t overstep limits,’ SC judge tells Sarina Isa for questioning ‘impartiality’ of CJP

    Supreme Court (SC) Justice Umar Ata Bandial took exception to the remarks made by Sarina Isa, wife of SC judge Qazi Faez Isa, and warned her not to “overstep her limits”.

    Sarina, who appeared in the top court in a case pertaining to the review plea against the June 19 verdict in the Justice Isa case, said that Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmad should be impartial. “Why didn’t the CJP order the formation of a full-bench to hear review pleas against a judgement of a seven-member bench,” she asked, questioning the “objectivity” of CJP Gulzar in the matter.

    “You should be careful while talking about the CJP and the institution,” Justice Bandial responded, adding that as the head of the institution, the chief justice left the matter related to the inclusion of three judges to this larger bench.

    At this, Muneer A Malik, counsel representing Justice Isa, quoted precedents to make his case for the inclusion of the three judges. Similarly, Rashid A Rizvi, counsel for Sindh High Court Bar Association, said that a lack of inclusion of the three judges could harm the public perception.

    To this, Justice Qazi Amin Ahmed remarked that the court decides cases in accordance with the law and the constitution rather than on the basis of public perception.

    Hearing of the case is adjourned until Thursday.

    On Friday, Justice Qazi Faez Isa had submitted a petition seeking an additional review of the ruling on the presidential reference filed against him, wherein he had requested that an order be passed for the hearing of the petition to be broadcast live on television.

    He had demanded at the time that Justices Maqbool Baqar, Mansoor Ali Shah, and Yahya Afridi also be made part of the bench to hear the petition and that his petition be declared admissible in Justice Afridi’s ruling.

  • Justice Isa reference: SC judge for criminal proceedings against Shahzad Akbar, others

    Justice Isa reference: SC judge for criminal proceedings against Shahzad Akbar, others

    The federal government tried to remove Supreme Court judge Qazi Faez Isa through illegal means, said a dissenting note in a case pertaining to “mala fide” presidential reference against the top judge.

    In a dissenting note, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah questioned the intent of the government behind filing the reference and its methods to locate the properties owned by Justice Isa’s family, as he sought criminal cases against the government officials.

    He questioned: “Are we governed by the constitution and the rule of law or can the government of the day conveniently get off the constitutional rails to suit its ends and come prying into the private lives of its citizens in disregard of their constitutional rights?”

    The judge said the complainant could only have approached the constitutional forums provided under Article 209(5), adding that the very act of approaching the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) was per se unconstitutional and illegal.

    “It is noted with concern and suspicion that how did the complainant, a citizen of this country, plan on filing the complaint against a constitutional court judge before the ARU, which had no public
    interface or the legal mandate…”

    Instead of approaching the forum concerned, the complainant’s decision to move the ARU against the judge “raises eyebrows about the credibility of the complaint”. “It is no rocket science to put the facts together to discern that the complainant was fed the information to generate the complaint,” the note commented on the complainant being a “journalist”.

    “The establishment of the ARU was, therefore, absolutely without lawful authority, and is hereby so declared. In the absence of any legal status of the ARU, its Chairman and Members also have no legal position or status,” the judge wrote.

    The judge said that the ARU chairman and legal expert “procured the information regarding the UK properties by offending the fundamental rights…without the sanction of any law”, going on to call these actions criminal.

    For indulging in unlawful practices to gather data on the SC judge, the dissenting note said that the authorities concerned “must initiate criminal and disciplinary proceedings against the ARU chairman, legal expert and [its] members, as well as, the defaulting officials of FBR [Federal Board of Revenue] and NADRA [National Database and Regulatory Authority] under the IFTA, ITO and NADRA Ordinance, 2000”.

    ‘MALICE AND ILL-WILL AGAINST JUDGE’

    Justice Maqbool Baqir also penned a dissenting note, wherein he said that the “respondents have violated all of the above and carried covert surveillance of the petitioner and his family without any rhyme or reason, wholly illegally”.

    Criticising the presidential reference sent to the SJC, he said: “Had the president applied his mind
    independently, he would have readily and surely appreciated that reliance of the chairman ARU, the law minister and the prime minister, on a purported report obtained by the chairman ARU was
    wholly unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal, inappropriate, misconceived and mala fide.”

    “The reference springs from actual malice and ill-will harboured against the petitioner by the concerned state functionaries on account of the Faizabad dharna judgment and a common desire to ensure his absence from the review thereof,” the judge wrote.

    JUSTICE ISA CASE:

    In June this year, the SC dismissed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa and referred the matter to the FBR for further probe.

    Justice Qazi Faez Isa is an SC justice who took oath as a judge of the top court in September 2014. He is scheduled to become the chief justice in August 2023 for thirteen months.

    His landmark cases include the Faizabad Sit-in judgment in 2019, the Quetta Massacre Commission in 2016 — when he headed an inquiry commission to find out what happened when a suicide attack in August 2016 killed 74 people — and the Memogate Commission in 2012, a case where an alleged memo was delivered to an American official at the behest of former ambassador to the United States (US), Husain Haqqani, in May 2012.

    In May 2019, media started reporting that references were being filed against SC judges Reports became so rampant that Justice Isa approached President Arif Alvi, complaining that information being leaked to the media amounted to character assassination, which would hinder his right to a fair trial. He also asked the president if a reference was being filed against him by the president in the SJC.

    There was no reply by the president and soon, a notice was sent to the federal government by the SJC that a reference was being filed against him and another judge, accusing them of concealing assets.

    Justice Isa then wrote another letter, in which he said that he could’ve handled the inquiry against him and his family but it seemed that the independence of the judiciary was being undermined and that a judge had to preserve and protect the constitution as he had sworn to do.

    He then asked the SC 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 on Friday dismissed the petition against him.

  • Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s wife awarded Rs35 million penalty by FBR

    Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s wife awarded Rs35 million penalty by FBR

    The wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa has been stated to have a tax liability of Rs35 million on account of her foreign assets and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has slapped a penalty on her against the same amount.

    According to reports, this was revealed in 164-page order issued by Inland Revenue and International Taxes Zone Commissioner Zulfiqar Ahmed on September 14.

    While the decision may have bearing on Justice Isa’s future as a Supreme Court (SC) judge in line to become the chief justice of Pakistan, his wife Sarina Isa has accused the FBR as well as the federal government of mala fide abuse and announced she will challenge the decision at a higher forum.

    In June this year, a 10-judge SC bench had suppressed a presidential reference that had accused Justice Isa of misconduct based on non-disclosure of his family’s offshore properties in his wealth statement.

    However, the bench had also directed the FBR to investigate Isa’s familial assets abroad and submit a report to Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which is the constitutional forum with the authority to hold a superior court judge accountable.

    Sarina, in a written statement, has cast doubt on the order and went on to accuse FBR official Zulfiqar Ahmed of creating “artificial tax liability of over Rs35 million” against her.

    “I don’t even know if he wrote the order himself,” she added.

    Under the apex court’s June 19 split order, Sarina may use all legal options against the FBR order.

    Sarina went on to reject the FBR official’s referring to her alleged refusal to deliver the FBR notice, citing that her father had passed away on that day.

    In the statement, she claimed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was leading a team aiming to victimise her husband and his family in a bid to remove Justice Isa from his position.

  • KYA BOLA? (Aug 6): ‘Martial law se behtar Angrezo ki hukoomat hai’ to ‘substandard’ construction work of Peshawar BRT

    KYA BOLA? (Aug 6): ‘Martial law se behtar Angrezo ki hukoomat hai’ to ‘substandard’ construction work of Peshawar BRT

    Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on August 6, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.

    ‘Martial Law Se Behtar Angrezo Ki Hukoomat Hai’

    It has been reported by Daily Dunya that Supreme Court’s Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is known for being a critic of certain quarters, has taken notice of irregularities in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and remarked “Marshal law se behtar hai hukoomat Angrezo ko de di jaaye.”

    ‘Kashmir Aik Namukamal Agenda Hai’

    Daily Jang has quoted Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar as saying “Kashmir, Taqseeme Hind ka namukammal agenda hai. Aaj maqbooza Kashmir Pakistan k naqshay mein shaamil hua hai, kal yeh Pakistan ka hissa hoga.”

    Buzdar was referring to Pakistan’s new political map approved by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Tuesday. It shows the troubled valley as a part of Pakistan.

    ‘Substandard’ Construction Work of Peshawar BRT

    According to Daily Dunya, Asian Development Bank (ADB), which is assisting the construction of Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, has identified “substandard” construction work.

    The Peshawar BRT is rather infamous for its incompletion as the authorities concerned have failed to meet deadlines time and again. The government has now issued yet another deadline for completion of the much-delayed project, the cost of which has also swollen over the years.

  • Justice Qazi Faez Isa receiving death threats, wife tells police; CJP takes notice

    Justice Qazi Faez Isa receiving death threats, wife tells police; CJP takes notice

    The wife of Supreme Court’s (SC) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Sarina Isa, has informed the police that her husband has received a death threat via a video, prompting Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed to take suo motu notice.

    In an application seeking the registration of an FIR [First Information Report] at Islamabad’s Secretariat Police Station, Sarina claimed that the person threatening Justice Isa said whoever was caught involved in embezzlement, whether it be Faez Isa or anyone else, should be executed through a firing squad.

    “Those who indulge in such activities must be hanged and the entire city should be invited to watch it,” the person in the video said, according to Justice Isa’s wife.

    Sarina said that many powerful people were not happy with her husband and she suspected the death threat was in continuation of what they have been facing.

    She said that a complaint against her husband was also submitted by a person named Abdul Waheed Dogar.

    “My husband asked who Abdul Waheed Dogar is but no one in the government disclosed that for whom Dogar worked,” she said, claiming that Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shahzad Akbar had met Dogar, urging the police officials to investigate the whereabouts of Dogar, who, according to her, was being used by “some very powerful people”.

    She urged the police officials to arrest those “powerful people” who wanted to get rid of Justice Isa, calling it the “worst kind of terrorism”.

    SUO MOTU NOTICE:

    Meanwhile, the top judge has taken suo motu notice of the video containing derogatory and scandalous remarks about members of the judiciary.

    According to a notification, a copy of which is available with The Current, the CJP will be taking up the case for hearing tomorrow at the SC.

    The CJP has taken notice of the viral video containing derogatory, contemptuous and scandalous language against the institution of judiciary and judges, read the notification, adding that the case will be heard by a bench of the apex court on June 26 (tomorrow).

    REFERENCE AGAINST JUSTICE ISA QUASHED:

    The threats come days after the top court on Friday quashed the presidential reference filed against Justice Isa as well as the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) proceedings that were started on the basis of the reference.

    A 10-judge full court had issued the verdict after hearing for over six months multiple petitions filed against the reference that claimed that Justice Isa had committed misconduct by not disclosing his family members properties in the United Kingdom (UK) in his wealth statement.

    “Reference No 1 of 2019 is declared to be of no legal effect whatsoever and stands quashed, and in consequence, thereof the proceedings pending in the SJC against the petitioner [Justice Isa] including the show-cause notice dated 17.07.2019 issued to him stand abated,” said a short order.

    In the split verdict, announced by the presiding judge Umar Ata Bandial, seven out of the 10 judges referred the matter to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for initiating tax proceedings against Justice Isa’s spouse and children for not disclosing their UK properties to the tax authorities while filing their returns.

  • SC dismisses presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    SC dismisses presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday dismissed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the top court, announcing its short verdict on the petition challenging the reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

    A ten-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the case, reserving the verdict before it was announced after 4 pm.

    The case was wrapped up after Justice Isa’s spouse on Thursday provided the money trail pertaining to her foreign properties and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) provided its input on the matter.

    The petitioner’s lawyer, Munir A Malik, concluded his arguments in court by saying that the federation had “gotten on the wrong bus” in the case.

    The top court judge’s wife, Zarina Carrera Khoso, submitted the money trail of her three properties in the United Kingdom (UK) to a full bench of the SC via video link in an assets concealment and alleged misconduct case against her husband.

    The SJC had initiated the proceedings against Justice Isa on allegations that he purchased three properties in London in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015 but did not allegedly disclose them in wealth returns declared in Pakistan.

    Justice Isa had told the apex court on Wednesday that his wife wanted to appear before the SC bench to explain the sources of her UK properties.

    Subsequently, following the top court’s approval she testified that all the money was transferred from Pakistan to UK through her two foreign accounts.

    “Properties in Karachi were sold out and two bank accounts — one in British pounds and the other in US dollars — were opened in a private bank to transfer the money.

    “From 2003-2013, a total of £700,000 was transferred through these two foreign accounts in the Standard Chartered Bank’s Karachi branch,” she added.

    Khoso clarified that she was a Spanish citizen and that she had used her passport to purchase the properties in London. She added that when her husband was a lawyer, she would get a five-year visa.

    However, the Pakistani authorities had issued a one-year visa after 2018 only to create hurdles.

    Justice Isa’s wife explained that since she was born in Spain and her father’s and mother’s names, respectively, were Khoso and Carrera, her name on her birth certificate and passport is Zarina Carrera Khoso.

    After she got married to Justice Isa back in 1983, however, the Pakistani government registered her name on her CNIC as Zarina Isa.

    In her statement, the judge’s wife said her tax returns were filed after advice from Rehan Naqvi, her solicitor, and that she owned a house in Clifton, as well as a plot in Shah Latif Town. She has also received agricultural land from her father, which is now in her name.

    Khoso said she was advised that according to the law, tax returns were not filed on agricultural land. All of her taxes were filed after consultations with Naqvi, she added, noting that the last tax return she had filed was over Rs7.6 million.

    Later, Justice Maqbool Baqar reportedly remarked that what was going on in the country in the name of accountability would also be looked into. He said destruction [of institutions] was underway in the country in the name of accountability and they would also write that in the verdict.

    Justice Maqbool Baqar asked if the SJC could review the performance of the president, to which the federation’s lawyer, Farogh Naseem, said that the council had the authority to review anyone’s performance.

    NOT SURE ABOUT THE CASE? DON’T WORRY, WE HAVE YOU COVERED:

    Justice Qazi Faez Isa is an SC justice who took oath as a judge of the top court in September 2014. He is scheduled to become the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) in August 2023 for thirteen months.

    His landmark cases include the Faizabad Sit-in judgment in 2019, the Quetta Massacre Commission in 2016 — when he headed an inquiry commission to find out what happened when a suicide attack in August 2016 killed 74 people — and the Memogate Commission in 2012, a case where an alleged memo was delivered to an American official at the behest of former ambassador to the United States (US), Husain Haqqani, in May 2012.

    In May 2019, media started reporting that references were being filed against SC judges Reports became so rampant that Justice Isa approached President Arif Alvi, complaining that information being leaked to the media amounted to character assassination, which would hinder his right to a fair trial. He also asked the president if a reference was being filed against him by the president in the SJC.

    There was no reply by the president and soon, a notice was sent to the federal government by the SJC that a reference was being filed against him and another judge, accusing them of concealing assets.

    Justice Isa then wrote another letter, in which he said that he could’ve handled the inquiry against him and his family but it seemed that the independence of the judiciary was being undermined and that a judge had to preserve and protect the constitution as he had sworn to do.

    He then asked the SC 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 on Friday dismissed the petition against him.

  • Justice Qazi Faez Isa strikes back with ‘Imran, others’ properties in UK’

    Justice Qazi Faez Isa strikes back with ‘Imran, others’ properties in UK’

    Supreme Court’s (SC) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is facing a presidential reference for not disclosing his family’s assets, on Tuesday put the federal government in a tight spot before a full bench of the apex court by pointing out key leaders of the ruling party who also owned properties in the United Kingdom (UK), including Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and his special assistant on accountability, Shahzad Akbar.

    As a 10-judge full court, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, continued hearing the petitions against the reference, Justice Isa in a written statement informed the bench that PM Imran owned six properties, Akbar (five), Special Assistant to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari (seven) and Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Usman Dar have three to his name.

    Former federal information minister Firdous Ashiq Awan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Jahangir Tareen each owned a property there as well. In addition, the judge submitted before the court that former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf owned two properties in the UK.

    Justice Isa submitted the statement in response to SAPM Akbar telling the court that he did not receive any salary or benefit as the head of the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU).

    “Taking a cue from what is stated to have transpired in the case of the petitioner’s family, the search engine 192.com was used to search a few known public figures,” the statement read.

    The judge clarified that he was “not saying or suggesting, let alone allege” that the people he had identified had illegally acquired any property in the UK in violation of the income tax, the foreign exchange and/or money laundering laws.

    “Before an allegation of non-compliance with income tax law is made, the Federal Board of Revenue must check its records [of these individuals] and consider how much taxable income was declared and income-tax paid and whether they had non-taxable income, such as from agricultural land, which the Constitution exempts from payment of income tax.”

    Justice Isa further stated that before making an allegation with regard to the illegal transfer of money abroad, the State Bank “must check to determine whether the said individuals had foreign exchange accounts and whether through these accounts money was remitted abroad, to exclude the possibility of it sent to the UK through Hawala, Hundi or by any other illegal means”.

  • ‘Alvi, Imran ready to face consequences if SC quashes reference against Justice Isa’

    ‘Alvi, Imran ready to face consequences if SC quashes reference against Justice Isa’

    The government’s counsel has told the Supreme Court (SC) that the President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan were ready to face the consequences if the presidential reference against SC’s Justice Qazi Faez Isa was quashed.

    Dr Farogh Naseem, former law minister and currently the government’s counsel in the case against Justice Isa, submitted before members of the 10-judge full court that it appeared as if the top government functionaries were on trial and not the judge who has yet to explain the source of income for his family members’ properties.

    “We are ready to face consequences,” said Dr Naseem, adding that the consequences would be across the board.

    Earlier, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had observed that the government is also accountable if the reference is not maintainable.

    “There should be consequences if the reference is quashed based on malice,” noted another judge, Justice Maqbool Baqar.

    Meanwhile, chief judge of the full court, Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that no bar association has ever complained about Justice Isa being dishonest. None of the government’s allegations prove dishonesty of Justice Isa, he remarked.

    READ: Law minister resigns again; this time to represent govt in Faez Isa case

    The federal counsel maintained that a judge is the most powerful person in society, and therefore, he argued, we must have confidence that the judge is free of controversy. The independence of the judiciary comes through integrity, and there should be good public perception of the judge, added Dr Naseem.

    At this, Justice Shah inquired whether the counsel admits that this is a case pertaining to independence of the judiciary.

    Justice Shah further asked the federal counsel whether a husband could seek his wife’s tax records from the Federal Board of Revenue. To this, Dr Naseem replied that he would have to ask the relevant officials.

    Under which law can the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) ask a judge to disclose details of his wife’s properties, inquired Justice Shah. He observed that the public perception of a judge can also be destroyed on social media.

    At this, Dr Naseem said that fake news could not destroy public perception but if a judge is unable to explain the source of his family members’ properties than it would influence his reputation before the public.

    Justice Bandial told the federal counsel that instead of relaying a violation of Section 116 of the Income Tax law his main focus is on the issuance of the show cause notice to Justice Isa by the SJC.

    READ: New top lawyer excuses himself from fighting Justice Faez Isa case for PTI govt

    With regards to the show cause notice, Justice Maqbool Baqar noted that if the basis of the reference was illegal then all of the proceedings would be quashed.

    Referring to various SC judgements, Dr Naseem said that the office of a judge came under the definition of public office and it is mandatory for a public servant that their family members’ lifestyle is not beyond the ostensible source of income. He maintained that his case was about the source of income.

    The bench asked Dr Naseem yet again as to why the government did not question Justice Isa’s wife about her source of income for the properties in question. If the wife purchased these properties through inherited income, would the judge be liable to reply, asked Justice Shah.

    In the same vein, Justice Yahya Afridi asked whether all judges should be asked about their family members’ tax concerns by the SJC or by tax authorities. To this Dr Naseem said that disciplinary proceedings against a judge could only be initiated by the SJC.