'The sword is still hanging': Legal fraternity reacts to SC's decision to quash reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

The Supreme Court on Friday accepted Justice Qazi Faez Isa's petitions challenging the filing of a presidential reference against him.

The top court threw out the presidential reference, terming it "invalid" and also withdrew the show cause notice issued to Justice Isa last year by the Supreme Judicial Council.

'[The reference] is declared to be of no legal effect whatsoever and stands quashed,' read the judgement.

However, while most hailed the decision a landmark judgement, some expressed reservations, saying that the matter may be far from over.

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari, in a statement, "highly appreciated" the top court's verdict and commended it for "its courageous demonstration guarding its independence [and] thus upholding the prime objective of the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution".

Vice chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Abid Saqi said that the SC verdict had "frustrated the nefarious and ill-motivated move of the government to subdue and pressurise the independent judiciary".

The PBC also announced that all bar members will observe Youm-e-Tashakkur (day of gratefulness) on June 22. They will also celebrate what the council termed a "landmark judgement and the victory of the cause of the rule of law, the constitutionalism and independence of the judiciary".

Zahid F. Ebrahim, an advocate of the Supreme Court, said that while the court had "slashed he...