ISLAMABAD: The PTI has called for the resignation of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamir Farooq after his fellow judges questioned his conduct in the Tyrian White case against former prime minister Imran Khan.

A day after the decision of a three-judge IHC bench was published, the PTI said CJ Farooq had no moral ground to continue holding his office.

Earlier in May, the three-judge bench dismissed a petition seeking the disqualification of Mr Khan for concealing his alleged daughter, Tyrian White.

In their detailed order, the judges criticised CJ Farooq for dissolving a previous three-judge bench, of which he was also a part, after two members disagreed with his opinion that the petition against Mr Khan was maintainable.

Spokesperson says party may go to SJC against the top judge

Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Arbab Moha­mmad Tahir wanted the petitions to be dismissed, but the CJ, instead of announcing the majority (2-1) judgement, dissolved the bench in May 2023.

After that, the case was not fixed for hearing for a year.

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The PTI spokesperson said the party was weighing a suggestion to approach the Supreme Judicial Council against CJ Farooq in light of the three-member bench’s ruling.

The spokesperson claimed that another “unethical, absurd, and fabricated” case against the PTI founding chairman had reached its logical conclusion, as eventually truth prevailed.

The decision was “a slap in the face of those flaunting morals and values” and an indictment against the system.

The PTI spokesperson hoped that all “203 cases” against Mr Khan would meet the same fate, adding that it had been proven that “characters like the IHC Chief Justice, sitting in the judiciary, provided oxygen to the state to unleash a reign of terror and operation against 240 million people” and against Imran Khan during the past two years.

The PTI spokesperson reiterated that in the presence of a free, autonomous, and law-abiding judiciary, no one could ever get a chance to create anarchy or lawlessness.

Unfortunately, the IHC CJ “supported every atte­mpt at desecrating the Constitution” and deviation from the law to subject PTI workers and leaders to ‘political vendetta’.

The PTI spokesperson alleged that CJ Farooq “facilitated and saved” the orchestrators and planners of the May 9 operation by “justifying the violent abduction of Imran Khan” from the court premises and not holding paramilitary forces accountable for deleting the CCTV footage of that incident.

The PTI spokesperson also referred to the letter written by six IHC judges to the SJC over the alleged meddling of intelligence agencies in court affairs. The “honourable judges” were left with no option but to write the letter due to the inaction of CJ Farooq to stop the spy agencies’ meddling in judicial affairs.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2024