PBC asks president, minister and adviser to resign

The apex body of lawyers – the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) – has demanded immediate resignations of President Dr Arif Alvi, Minister for Law Dr Farogh Naseem and Adviser to Prime Minister Shahzad Akbar in view of the Supreme Court detailed judgment in Justice Qazi Faez Isa case.

The PBC made this demand on Saturday through a written statement issued a day after the Supreme Court unveiled the 173-page detailed judgment in the Justice Isa case.

The detailed verdict – endorsed by seven judges – was issued four months after a 10-judge larger bench quashed a presidential reference that sought Justice Isa’s removal in view of his failure to mention his family members’ London properties in his wealth statement.

The detailed verdicts declared that the presidential reference was “tainted with mala fide in law” and also made strong comments against the president, the federal minister for law and the former attorney general for Pakistan (AGP).

It said the president could not to form his considered opinion under Article 209(5) of the Constitution, after independent application of mind, as he did not get fair and objective advice from a third party on the question of law noted in the reference and thus failed to notice its legal procedural defects;

“Instead, the president formed his opinion on the basis of ‘inadmissible advice’ obtained from the law minister [Dr Farogh Naseem] and the [former] Attorney General for Pakistan, both of whom were involved in preparation of the reference against the petitioner, and as such had a conflict of interest.”

Referring to the verdict, the PBC said the observations and reasons given by the Supreme Court clearly prove Constitutional violations, illegalities and mala fide of the government and its  functionaries,  in   filing  the “politically  motivated reference”  against the SC judge.

It noted that the SC quashed the reference without taking  any action against the “delinquent government and its ministers and other officials”, who in fact, are the “mastermind and responsible of filing the reference, aiming at pressuring and disrespecting the sacred institution of judiciary.

“The bar leaders, therefore, have demanded immediate resignations of the President of Pakistan, who sent the reference to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) without thorough consideration and application of his mind that being the constitutional requirement.

“[They also demand resignation of ] Dr Farogh Naseem  and  Shahzad  Akbar [also] head of the Assets Recovery Unit, who were the real masterminds behind initiating the enquiry and preparing the reference and so deliberately attempted to cause bad name to the judiciary,” It said.

It said after minute perusal and examination of the detailed order, the PBC may also file an application with its further submissions, adding to its review petition earlier filed in the Supreme Court against the SC’s brief order in Justice Isa case – for reviewing the judgment.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) also held a press conference in Karachi in which the bar officials made a similar demand while welcoming the detailed order.