Justice Faez Isa seeks review of ruling on presidential reference

Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday submitted a petition seeking additional review of the ruling on the presidential reference filed against him. 

According to the petition, Justice Faez Isa has requested that an order be passed for the hearing of the petition to be broadcast live on television. Government officials launched a "propaganda campaign" against him and his family, the judge claimed.

He demanded that Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi also be made part of the bench to hear the petition and that his petition be declared admissible in Justice Afridi's ruling. Paragraphs 2 to 11 of the June 19, 2020, ruling should be reviewed and withdrawn, he demanded.

In his petition, Justice Isa expressed concern that a report by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) may affect him and Sarina Isa. The FBR report was leaked to the media for misleading propaganda, the judge alleged.

Justice Isa said the "independence of the judiciary was handed over to the executive" via the June 19, 2020, ruling, which he said was against the Constitution of Pakistan. He said in his petition the PTI and its coalition partner, the MQM, had demanded his removal from office following the Faizabad sit-in case.

The reason former Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa informed Justice Isa about the reference was to obtain his resignation, he further claimed.