ISLAMABAD: The lawyers’ bodies of the federal capital after having detailed deliberations finally decided to join the legal fraternity across the country to demand immediate withdrawal of a reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court.

The Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) and District Bar Association of Islamabad (DBAI) in a joint meeting also asked the government to withdraw a reference filed against Justice Karim Khan Agha of the Sindh High Court.

The government had filed both references in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) last week, alleging that the two judges had not declared assets of their children and spouses.

The IBC, IHCBA and DBAI in their joint meeting demanded withdrawal of references against the two judges. The IBC, a regulatory body of the lawyers of the federal capital, also warned the government that it must refrain from ‘hatching conspiracies’ against judges of the superior courts as such steps were against the independence of the judiciary.

The IBC also demanded that the SJC decide the reference while keeping in mind the peculiar background, objectives and earlier conspiracies hatched against Justice Isa for his bold and independent views.

The lawyers who attended the meeting at the IBC Secretariat included its vice chairman Haroon Rasheed, chairman of the inter-provincial bar councils coordination committee Javed Saleem Shorish, IBC members Qazi Rafiuddin Babar and Sajjad Afzal Cheema, IHCBA president Raja Inam Ameen Minhas, secretary Umair Baloch, DBAI president Khanzada Khan, secretary Yasir Shakeel and others.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the IBC recalled that recently a constitutional petition based on mala fide intentions had been filed against Justice Isa and the Supreme Court had dismissed that petition.

Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi, who has been fined for wasting court’s time for filing frivolous litigation in the past, had challenged the appointment of Justice Isa. However, then chief justice Saqib Nisar dismissed the petition after the lawyers’ strong agitation.

The IBC expressed resolve that it would actively participate in the meeting called by the PBC on June 8 and 9 in which other provincial bar councils are also participating to evolve an effective strategy on these references and to make sure that in future no government or institution could file such references against the honest and respectable judges since it undermines the independence of judiciary.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2019