By Shakeel Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday that there was no allegation of corruption or dishonesty against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
Justice Isa’s petition against the reference and the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council against him was heard before a full bench of the Supreme Court.
In response to the federal government’s counsel, Dr Farogh Naseem’s, argument that Justice Isa had not provided the money trail for the properties of his family members, Justice Bandial observed that there was no allegation of corruption or money attained through illegal means against Justice Isa.
He noted that undeclared foreign property comes under the purview of the tax law, and asked Dr Naseem to explain the legal reasons on the basis of which Justice Isa was bound to disclose his family properties. Justice Bandial asked whether the accused Supreme Court judge had carried out any misconduct.
He further said that the reference cannot be filed on tax violation and the case came under the purview of Article 209 of the Constitution of Pakistan – which pertains to action against a judge when he has been guilty of misconduct. Justice Bandial observed that Justice Isa had declared income enough to purchase these properties in 2008-2009. The federal government’s lawyer maintained that proceedings were initiated against a judge in India when the properties of his family members were not declared.
However, Justice Bandial asked Dr Naseem to point towards Pakistani law which puts a legal obligation on the accused judge to disclose properties of his family members. On being questioned on proceedings under the tax law, the federal counsel maintained that officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) were too afraid to proceed against Justice Isa and his family members. He stated before the court that FBR officials refused to act until the conclusion of the Supreme Judicial Council’s proceedings.
Another judge on the bench hearing the case, Justice Maqbool Baqar, inquired what prompted the federal government to file the reference against Justice Isa.
