Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Friday said that the government was “satisfied” with the Supreme Court’s decision to quash the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, adding that they will not file an appeal against it.
Addressing a press conference alongside Information Minister Shibli Faraz after the short order was released, Akbar said that there were three scenarios in which a judge can be questioned.
“First, a person or department in possession of any information can send it directly to the SJC. Second, the government, through the president, can send a reference to the SJC. Third, the SJC takes suo motu notice.” Akbar said that it was only the SJC that had the domain to investigate matters relating to the superior judiciary. “You can inform them, but you can’t inquire […] on the basis of this a reference was sent [against Justice Isa]”.
Commenting on the SC’s decision, the PM’s aide said that the government was satisfied with the decision, adding that the purpose behind sending a presidential reference to the SJC was not because the government wished for a particular outcome.
“Since day one, we have believed that matters concerning judges should be examined by the SJC. The executive and the administration should not be involved in this,” he said, adding that the involvement is severed the minute the information is handed over. The PM’s aide stated that for the past 13 months, government officials, himself, and the government’s counsel Farogh Naseem had held back from commenting on the case for a particular reason.
