News Desk |
President Dr Arif Alvi has strongly refuted the claims that the contents of a presidential reference against a sitting judge of the Supreme Court was leaked from Aiwan-e-Sadr – the President House. The president has rebuffed the claim after conducting a thorough investigation into the issue.
In May, the federal government through President Alvi had filed references against the Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Sindh High Court judge Justice KK Agha before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) over non-disclosure of their spouses’ foreign properties in their wealth statements.
In an interview on a private TV channel, President Alvi said that he had received the reference against Justice Isa from the ministry of law and justice.
SJC had issued a show-cause notice to Justice Isa for “writing letters to President Arif Alvi” after the presidential reference was filed against him.
During the interview, President Alvi elaborated that he had three options after receiving the reference: “First to sit over it like those who used such things for blackmailing (threats); second for holding a media trial, and the third one to proceed in accordance with relevant laws”.
The president said that he preferred the legal one by sending the presidential reference to the SJC under the specific laws and expressed the confidence that SJC would decide it in accordance with the law.
Justice Isa Writes Letter to President Alvi
As the reports regarding the filing of a reference had emerged, Justice Isa had written a letter to President Alvi, asking the president to let him know if the reports hold truth. In May this year, Justice Isa once again approached President Alvi complaining that selective leaks to the media amount to his character assassination, thus jeopardizing his right to due process and fair trial.
SJC Takes up References Against Justice Isa, Justice Agha
On May 31, SJC had issued a notice to the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor Khan for June 14 in connection presidential references against Justice Isa and Justice Agha.
Read more: Why did you write letters to the President? SJC issues show-cause notice to Justice Qazi Faez Isa
The SJC – a constitutional body tasked with scrutinizing the conduct of superior court judges – had issued the notice to AGP in order to obtain his legal assistance in deciding the maintainability of references. Later, the SJC had issued notices to the judges.
SJC Issues Show-cause to Justice Isa for Writing Letters to Alvi
Meanwhile, SJC had issued a show-cause notice to Justice Isa for “writing letters to President Arif Alvi” after the presidential reference was filed against him.
In its notice, the SJC asked Justice Isa to explain his conduct for writing letters to the president of Pakistan. The SC judge was given 14 days to submit his reply.
Read more: Lawyers protest, burn copies of references outside SC
A Lahore-based lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt had filed a complaint against Justice Isa for violating the code of conduct for members of the judiciary by “writing letters to the president of Pakistan and sharing it with the media”.