The registrar office of the Supreme Court has raised objections to the new appeals filed in relation to the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case, Geo News reported Wednesday.
Per the report, the registrar office said that the appeals should be taken back as the court cannot review two cases at the same time.
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— Hasnaat Malik (@HasnaatMalik) May 27, 2021
The appeals were filed by President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Advisor on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar, Law Minister Farogh Naseem, and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The petitions called for the formation of a full-bench comprising all the judges of the apex court, in which Justice Isa was made a party.
Earlier in the day, President Arif Alvi had once again approached the Supreme Court in Justice Isa’s reference case. According to sources, the President has filed a fresh petition seeking the re-hearing of the petitions.
Sources said that the president has filed a constitutional petition under the self-notice jurisdiction, in which Justice Qazi Faez Isa has been made a party in the 70-page petition.
In the petition, the president has taken the position that even after the decision on the review petition, a hearing can be held on the jurisdiction of self-notice.
It may be recalled that on June 19, 2020, a 10-member bench of the Supreme Court, in a short judgment, had quashed the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa and dismissed it. Four months later, the Supreme Court had issued a detailed judgment in this regard.
AGP’s office opposes law minister’s suggestion
According to some media reports, the attorney general for Pakistan’s (AGP) office was not interested in filing a second review.
Despite strong opposition by AGP office, Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem finally succeeded to convince top govt functionaries to file second review petition in Justice Qazi Faez Isa case. Although there is no concept of second review in Pakistan Supreme Court. https://t.co/3umCDgHNxD
— Hasnaat Malik (@HasnaatMalik) May 26, 2021
Even the review petitions filed earlier did not carry the signatures of Additional Attorneys General Chaudhry Amir Rehman and Sohail Mahmood, who were representing the government in the Justice Isa case.
Sources revealed that the AGP’s office was unaware about filing of a review petition until Tuesday. They added that AGP Khalid Jawed Khan also suggested to Prime Minister Imran Khan that there was no need to take any further step in the case for the smooth functioning of the institutions.
It has been learnt that Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem urged top government functionaries to file a second review.
He was of the view that coercive observations could be passed against top functionaries including the prime minister by majority judges in the detailed judgment of the case.
Read More: Judicial impartiality paramount to serving justice
Senior lawyers believe that the AGP was aware that in case there will be observations against the prime minister or the president in the detailed judgment, he could have been accused of allowing the government to file a second review.