ISLAMABAD, Sept 24: The Supreme Court will take up on Oct 2 a review petition filed by property tycoon Malik Riaz against the appointment of Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr Shoaib Suddle as a one-man commission to investigate allegations of a Rs342 million business deal between him and Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, son of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain decided on Monday to admit the petition for hearing after Zahid Bokhari, representing Mr Malik, complained that the court office had returned the plea.

The counsel insisted that the court should hear and deicide the matter on merit.

The commission was constituted by the same bench on Aug 30 on a review petition filed by Dr Arsalan.

Advocate Bokhari later told reporters that the commission had been formed without consultation with his client, adding he would request the commission to delay its inquiry till a decision by the apex court on the review petition.

In his petition, Mr Malik requested the court to recall its Aug 30 order by which it had appointed Dr Suddle to investigate the matter. Instead, he said, the court should have enforced its June 14 ruling in true spirit in the supreme interest of justice. In the said verdict, the court had ordered Attorney General Irfan Qadir to set the state machinery in motion and look into the matter.

“The August 30 verdict is not sustainable in law because it has resulted in miscarriage of justice,” the petition said. The Supreme Court, it said, had no authority under any provision of the Constitution or the Supreme Court Rules 1980 to appoint a commission on a review petition without declaring the June 14 order illegal and incorrect.

The petition alleged that Dr Suddle had been repeatedly admired by the chief justice because he had special relations and intimacy with his son. “Dr Shoaib Suddle was one of the guests at the marriage function of Dr Arsalan and the chief justice also attended the wedding ceremony of Dr Suddle’s son,” the petition said, adding that these social relations would be a hurdle in conducting a fair inquiry into the matter.