News Analysis: Debate rages over optics of Justice Isa attending moot in NA

KARACHI: The optics of Justice Qazi Faez Isa attending the special convention at the National Assembly to mark the golden jubilee of the constitution of Pakistan, especially the optics of where he was seated, have sparked a debate among legal and political alike.

Talking to The News, Supreme Court lawyer Faisal Chaudhry says: “First of all, the issue is that Justice Qazi Faez Isa does not represent the SC; it is always the CJ [who does so]. And Justice Isa was not nominated by the CJ to represent the SC either. And then it seems other judges opted not to go to the event so it was not a wise decision [for Justice Isa] to go there at such a charged time. And then they made him sit right with all these politicians. The problem is: when you go to political events, it invites political commentary. Why make things controversial?”

However, SAPM on Interior and Legal Affairs Attaullah Tarar feels differently: “I don’t understand what this criticism is about. Had [Justice Isa] endorsed political views, they would have every right to criticize him. Had he spoken about politics or political parties, they could have criticized in whatever manner they deemed fit. But here a judge is speaking just about the constitution and is not endorsing any political views.” He adds that: “The Golden Jubilee of the constitution is an occasion that should have been celebrated. And we were fortunate enough that the senior puisne judge of the SC joined us on the floor of parliament. And it wasn’t only the judiciary that was invited; a cross-section of society was there including VCs of universities, academia, civil society and human rights activists.” According to Attaullah Tarar, “because a judge attended this convention, it granted the convention further legitimacy.”

Amidst heavy commentary on Twitter regarding Justice Isa’s appearance at the convention, former president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed summarized his thoughts thus: “[Justice Isa] should not have attended constitution celebrations in [the] assembly in time of such political turmoil. Perceptions matter! Even if he went, [should] have sat separately. But those calling it misconduct or unprecedented are uninformed. Here’s [photo attached in tweet] CJP Jamali addressing Senate in 2014.”

Lawyer and TV talkshow host Muneeb Farooq tells The News that he does “not have any objection with regard to Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s presence at the convention. It was a day to celebrate and he gave a decent speech [during which] not once but twice he distanced himself by saying he did not subscribe to any of the political speeches being made in parliament.” But Muneeb Farooq too notes the optics problem. “It may have been an error of judgment on [Justice Isa’s] part to have come there in such a polarized environment where anyone could have expected that political speeches would have gone on”.

Tweeting about the honourable judge’s attendance at the event, lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii writes that “Justice Qazi Faez [Isa] holding up the constitution and speaking in parliament to the applause of a coalition government which is hell bent upon subverting it”, adding: “What could possibly be worse optics at a fragile and fractured time for the Supreme Court?”

There are those though who are of the opinion that other judges too should have been there, with lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam commenting on social media that “If invitations were sent, the right thing would have been for all the judges of the SC to have attended this important event to commemorate an historic day.”

In a Twitter thread former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health minister and PTI leader Taimur Khan Jhagra writes: “The judge should never be the news. The judgments should be the news.” He adds that “The PDM government just [did] massive damage to J Qazi Faez Isa, in the way it has handled his presence in parliament, during political speech after political speech, [and] in the presence of no other judge. At a time when the government [and] parliament is challenging the CJP and the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction as an institution, asking for the CJP’s resignation; challenging the SC’s decisions in cabinet [and] parliament; passing legislation that may be challenging the Supreme Court’s autonomy; what signal does this send?”

For Muneeb Farooq, what could have been changed was where the honourable judge was seated, telling The News that: “I think this was a poor show by the hosts. I think the NA speaker should have sat him somewhere -- separate from the parliamentarians. By making him sit alongside the PM and former president, that was perhaps bad optics. People have said that more judges were invited -- and one got the impression from Justice Isa’s speech too that other judges were invited -- but they chose not to come. Yes, it was bad optics in terms of him sitting next to politicians.”

Responding to the criticism coming in, SAPM Tarar says that “it is very unfortunate that those judges whose audio clips have been leaked, there has been no investigation against them, and there is no criticism on them but [here we have] an upright judge who has gone through the mill and faced investigations because of political victimization during the previous [government] and he comes to a convention, says he does not agree with any of the political statements made and that he had no idea political speeches would be made, and that he does not endorse them -- and yet there is undue criticism on him.”

For journalist and political commentator Nasim Zehra, “the content of [Justice Faez Isa] speech was spot on as far as the occasion was concerned.” But, says she, “of course we have to live with the reality that optics do matter in a highly polarized environment so yes the optics do raise questions over whether he should have gone to the convention.” She does reiterate though that “But as we know, [Justice Isa] doesn’t represent any political side. He’s a maverick, he does things that judges don’t normally do....so one would see this more in that light than him standing for any political side.”

The NA spokesperson has also clarified some details regarding the event, saying that a cross-section of guests had been invited, including the honourable chief justice of Pakistan and CJs of all four provinces including GB and AJK.