ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan has requested the committee, established under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, not to include Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa in benches hearing cases related to his family as well as the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
In an application, field on Thursday, he stated the chief justice had biased against him on account of a reference sent against him in 2019 on the advice of legal experts. Imran alleged he discharge his constitutional responsibility (as prime minister) but it was considered a personal attack.
Imran submitted, “I do not expect justice according to the constitution and the law in the presence of Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa in the bench; therefore, he should not sit on the benches hearing cases related to him, his family members as well as Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).” Meanwhile, Imran Khan also filed a complaint in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), requesting it to recommend to the President of Pakistan removal of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq passing orders in violation of law.
The former prime minister filed the complaint under Article 209 of the Constitution read with paragraph 5 of the Supreme Judicial Council Procedure of Enquiry 2005 and all other enabling provisions of law. Imran contended that since assuming the office of chief justice, Justice Aamer has taken a special interest in cases involving him [Imran] and his presence in nearly all single and division benches hearing matters involving the complainant (other than those that involved intra-court appeals against orders and judgements of the respondent) is a matter of record.
“In most of those cases, relief has either been denied to the complainant, or has been granted in a manner which causes further complications and infringements of the complainant’s fundamental rights, and the conduct of proceedings in some of those cases has been extremely controversial,” Imran submitted.
He further submitted that in August 2022, a petition, bearing Writ Petition No 3061 of 2022, was filed in the IHC alleging failure by the complainant to disclose all of his dependents in the nomination papers for election to the National Assembly and, thus, seeking his disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.
Imran contended that this petition was also initially taken up for hearing by the Justice Aamer himself, but in response to his counsel’s objection, Justice Aamer enlarged the composition of the bench to include two other judges, adding that arguments before the three-member larger bench on the issue of maintainability of the petition were concluded and judgement on this issue was reserved on March 30, 2023. On May 9, 2023, Imran submitted, a judgement signed by two of the judges, other than the CJ, was uploaded on the IHC website, adding that the judgement dismissed the petition against him, while the CJ, for reasons best known to him, held back the release of the majority judgement as well as his own minority view.
Imran Khan complained that the CJ caused the majority judgement to be removed from the IHC website.
He submitted that an office note/press release, dated May 10, 2023, was issued by Justice Aamer declaring that the bench that had heard writ petition No. 3061 of 2022 has been disbanded and the matter would be heard afresh.
“No such power to reconstitute benches once a matter has already been decided vests with the chief justice as claimed by the aforesaid press release,” Imran Khan stated, contending no further proof is required of abuse of power by the CJ.
He further submitted that owing to the fact that proceedings before the SJC are inquisitorial in nature and since the facts narrated above are part of judicial or council’s record and/ or have been widely covered in the news, he has not attached any documents pertaining to the facts. Imran submitted that he was also unable to do this as on July 22, 2024, members of the Islamabad police and FIA raided the PTI Central Secretariat in Islamabad, where the record pertaining to the facts was stored and took away all computers, files, documents, hard drives etc from the secretariat. “The complainant, however, reserves the right to supplement this complaint, as well as to file documents in support hereof, as and when required. In case this Council is of the view that the documents referred to herein should be filed, it is requested that reasonable time be granted to the complainant to do so,” the PTI founder concluded.
Meanwhile, IHC CJ Aamir Farooq rejected a request by Imran Khan’s junior counsel to recuse himself from hearing a case against the arrest of Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in the new Toshakhana case since a complaint had been filed against him in the Supreme Judicial Council.
The chief justice told Intizar Hussain Panjotha, “You are saying that I should withdraw from the case. It doesn’t happen like this. There is a complete procedure while Justice Babar Sattar’s judgement is also there.”
Imran’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar was not present in the court. The CJ told Panjotha to ask his senior Salman Safdar to argue on the merits of the case, and adjourned the hearing until next week.