Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The federal government on Tuesday contended before the top court that it is up to the Supreme Judicial Council to determine whether Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s actions come under misconduct or not.
A full-court bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard Justice Isa’s petitions challenging the presidential reference against him.
While presenting the government’s defence, Attorney General of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan said the level of honesty and law-abidingness expected of a judge was more than that of an ordinary citizen.
The AGP maintained that it was up to the SJC to decide on Justice Isa’s misconduct and not the SC. Khan went on to add that Justice Isa had admitted the properties were owned by his family members and filed the petition seeking to quash the presidential reference on technical grounds. Justice Shah asked the attorney general how the evidence against the top court judge was collected and to explain the legality of the procedure.
