President, PM have no right to override constitution: Justice Isa – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Judge Qazi Faez Isa has declared before the Supreme Court that the president, prime minister or the minister of law is not free to undermine the constitution and destroy the independence of the judiciary.

"A self-service charge has been filed and the petitioner (Judge Isa) and his family have been persecuted and their lives have become hell," Judge Isa's reply read to a statement filed by Attorney General Anwar Mansoor in your own name .

An SC court of 10 judges, seized with a set of petitions challenging the submission of a reference against Judge Isa of the Supreme Court, could not begin hearing the case on Wednesday due to the sudden death of the former police chief of Karachi, Shahid Hayat, who was cousin of Judge Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, a member of the bank.

Judge Isa alleged that the powers that are desired to remove him from his constitutional office by good or by bad. President Arif Alvi did not form his own independent opinion before submitting the reference against the petitioner, Judge Isa added.

The prime minister, the law minister and the attorney general misunderstood Section 116 (b) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, and misapplied it to his wife and children, since the law was applicable only to a wife dependent and those children who were minors. and dependent, said Judge Isa.

He wondered why the government had not made the prime minister's declaration of wealth public according to his interpretation of the ITO provision.

"Why the government, for the sake of transparency, is not disclosing the tax returns and declarations of wealth of the prime minister, particularly when he has made public my tax return and that of my wife," the judge said. "Why double standards and why the lack of transparency."

It is said that the reference was filed following the advice of the prime minister, said the rejoinder, alleging that an incorrect advice was given intentionally for reasons of bad faith and for reasons hidden with a purpose, which was to remove the petitioner (Judge Isa) from his position. .

The prime minister misinterpreted Section 116 (b) of the ITO and, therefore, gave advice contrary to his own understanding, since he had never disclosed the properties of his wives and children in his statements of wealth, the rejoinder said.

"Therefore, his advice was deliberately false and was given only to attack the petitioner."

The reference itself reveals that government agencies, including the FIA, had provided assistance in obtaining secret information about the petitioner and his family. Subsequently, the data and documents of the petitioner and his family maintained by Nadra, a legal entity, were illegally accessed.

"The petitioner and his family have been treated as common criminals," said the aftershock.

Such covert action was a clear violation of articles 4 and 14 of the constitution, since the petitioner and his family did not have confidence in these investigations nor were given a unique opportunity to respond to any alleged discrepancy. This omission by the government violated the due process stipulated by article 10A of the constitution, according to the rejoinder.

The reference revealed, recalled the reply, that an assistant commissioner in Islamabad was assigned to investigate the petitioner and his wife from the confines of his Islamabad office. The official unilaterally formed an opinion within one business day and did not even bother to issue a notice to the petitioner and his wife, the reply regretted.

In a separate reply to the statement of the secretary of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Isa said that by showing an unusual rush in admitting the reference, the SJC had deprived the petitioner of his right to a fair trial and due process.

The secretary presented the reference to the SJC at a time when Judge Isa was on a sanctioned permit to help his wife take care of her sick father, the rejoinder concluded.

Posted on Dawn, October 17, 2019