Justice Isa’s wife seeks inclusion of three judges in review bench

Sarina Isa says in her application for review shall be posted before same bench which passed order on June 19

ISLAMABAD:

Sarina Isa, wife of Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa, has approached the apex court’s registrar for the inclusion of three judges in the larger bench, constituted to hear her review petition against the ruling of a 10-members bench on June 19.

Sarina Isa in her one-page application to the registrar stated that her review petition had been fixed before a bench from which Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi had been excluded.

“My understanding is that an application for review shall be posted before the same bench as provided by Order XXVI Rule 8 of the Supreme Court Rules 1980,” her application to the Supreme Court Registrar stated.

In its June 19 order, the Supreme Court bench had directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to conduct inquiry into the matter regarding SC judge’s undeclared properties and submit report to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

Sarina Isa’s application stated that the SJC was a respondent in the petitions in which review application had been filed by her. Justice Gulzar Ahmed, she said, was a member of SJC, and now by virtue of his office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, is its chairman.

“My children and I were not parties in any cases (CP No 17/2019+ others) yet are mentioned a total 194 times in the judgment” authored by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi, she said in the application.

“The fact that I was not heard by the Honourable Judges makes it all the more necessary that my review application is heard by all of them; I believe this right the Constitution grants to me (Article 188) and the Supreme Court Rules confirm it,” she said.

“If three judges are excluded my rights will be violated. The chief justice himself through the SJC is a party and oath of office and the Code of Conduct requires complete impartiality, Sarina Isa further said her application.

She expressed her confidence that when “this injustice is brought to the attention” of the chief justice, “he will direct you not to exclude Mr. Justice Maqbool Baqar, Mr Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Mr Justice Yahya Afridi from the Bench hearing my review”.

Separately, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) also moved an application in the apex court for the inclusion of three judges in the larger bench, which is taking up Sarina Isa and the bar’s review petitions against the June 19 order.