Govt ready to face consequences in Isa case, counsel tells SC.

Byline: Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD -- Federal government's counsel Dr Farogh Nasim on Monday informed the Supreme Court hearing challenges to the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa that the government was ready to face the consequences of failure to prove misconduct but the fallout would be across the board.

'It seems as if the president, the prime minister and the former law minister are on trial when the judge should have been on trial,' Dr Nasim said, emphasising that the government was ready to face the consequences but it would be on both sides.

The assertion came when Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah at the fag end of the hearing observed that there was no denying the fact that judges were accountable but so was the federal government and if the latter could not qualify the reference then the accountability would extend even further.

Justice Maqbool Baqar reiterated that this was a very serious matter as it would have serious consequences if the reference was quashed being based on malice. Referring to the government's insistence on the show-cause notice issued by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to Justice Isa instead of Section 116 of the Income Tax Ordinance (ITO), Justice Baqar observed that if the very foundation of the reference was shaken, the entire structure would crumble.

Justice Baqar observes if the very foundation of reference is shaken, the entire structure will crumble

Justice Umar Ata Bandial, who is heading a 10-judge SC bench hearing a set of petitions challenging the filing of the presidential reference, said the counsel was moving away from the reference, which was very specific and revolved around violation of the ITO, by going into deeper points regarding responsibilities of the office of the judge.

'We cannot allow any challenge to a judge on generality on the basis of surmises,' Justice Bandial observed. He highlighted that no allegation of dishonesty or corruption had been attributed to the judge in the reference and no bar council or association had ever brought a complaint about corruption against Justice Isa.

Justice Bandial agreed that the judges were more accountable than others since they lived in the glasshouse, but asked the counsel to find out a solution since he was dissociating himself from Section 116 of the ITO which was the main allegation in the reference rather than dwelling at length to establish that the judges were the paragon of virtues.

Justice Bandial also reminded the counsel...