It merits mention here that Justice Asif Khosa is also the Supreme Judicial Council’s (SJC) chairman. Recently, the chief justice held an informal meeting with Justice Isa where they discussed the presidential reference.
The petition submitted by PBC said that, “After admitting certain deliberations in the order dated 19-08-2019 of SJC, it may not be appropriate to remain a part of SJC by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan.”
The petition further said, “References are primarily motivated by his authorship of the Inter alia Faizabad judgement and others which have aroused great resentment on part of the ruling parties and within the visible and invisible branches of the Government.” The petition seeks a restraining order against the SJC from proceeding further on the presidential reference.
Earlier, the SJC had dismissed a reference filed against Justice Isa for writing letters to President Arif Alvi over a misconduct reference filed against him for allegedly possessing undisclosed foreign properties. The final verdict was read out by CJP Khosa who did not find the matter “serious enough” to constitute misconduct.
News of the presidential reference filed against Justice Isa was first splashed across television screens. As a result, the senior judge wrote a few letters to the president to confirm whether the reports were true. He also wrote in the letter that selective leaks of the reference to the media amounted to his character assassination while it also jeopardised his right to a fair trial. The judge had also requested a copy of the reference in his letter to the president.