Court decides not to refer Faez Isa case back to CJP.

Byline: Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court on Monday re-fixed the hearing of challenges to the filing of the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Oct 28, apparently in a change of heart after informing his counsel that they would request the chief justice for the reconstitution of a full court.

The decision to continue with the hearing from next week was taken when the 10-judge full court, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, was informed that Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, who was unavailable for hearing on Monday, would resume his duty next Monday.

If the matter had been sent back to Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, this would have been the second such referral in the past five weeks for the reconstitution of the full court.

In the morning when the bench members settled down for the hearing, Justice Bandial, while pointing towards Advocate Muneer A. Malik, the counsel for Justice Faez Isa, observed that the court was keen to proceed with the matter, but one of the members of the bench was not available to join the hearing in the wake of death in his family.

Justice Bandial said the judge had requested for weeklong absence and the bench members after consulting with each other decided that it would not be appropriate to proceed with the matter. 'Therefore, we are referring the matter back to the chief justice for the reconstitution of the bench, the outcome of which will be found out by the lawyer soon,' he added.

Bench informed about weeklong absence of member

At this, the counsel said he would like to place his argument after the constitution of the full court.

But Justice Bandial said it was not the counsel's choice; it was out of courtesy that the bench decided to inform the counsel. 'We are rising from the bench now and hopefully will be meeting soon,' he observed before retiring for the day.

The second referral to the chief justice within five weeks sparked a controversy, with seemingly disturbed lawyers' representatives rejecting the move and describing it as something that smacked of justice being compromised.

'When there is no formal recusal by a judge of the Supreme Court, then why the matter has been referred to the chief justice for the reconstitution of the bench?' asked Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice chairman Syed Amjad Shah. He said the formation of a new bench instead of the current bench would not be acceptable at any cost and would be contrary to the ends of justice.

Earlier on Sept 17, the...