PM orders withdrawal of 'baseless' curative review against Justice Isa.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday ordered the withdrawal of the curative review reference against Supreme Court's senior-most judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the government has decided not to pursue the matter further.

The federal cabinet has already approved the decision.

'The Prime Minister has directed Law Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarar to withdraw the curative review reference against Justice Qazi Faiz Isa,' read an official statement issued by the Prime Minister Office.

According to the statement, the premier said that Justice Isa and his family were harassed and defamed in the name of presidential reference.

'This was not a reference, it was a revenge action by [ex-PM] Imran Niazi, a vindictive person, against a fair-minded judge who followed the path of the Constitution and the law,' PM Shehbaz said while ordering to take back the case.

He furthered that filing of reference was 'a nefarious conspiracy to divide the independence of the Judiciary and divide it,' saying the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and allied parties had condemned the 'false reference' even during the opposition period.

'Imran Niazi misused the constitutional office of President for this criminal act,' Shehbaz said, adding that 'President Arif Alvi became an instrument in the attack on the Judiciary and an accomplice to a lie.'

He maintained that the lawyers' organisations, including the Pakistan Bar Council, had also opposed it, saying the government respects their opinion.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) -led federal government on May 23, 2019, had moved the Supreme Judicial...