The ex-top judge who spared none

ISLAMABAD:

Despite his retirement a year ago, former chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa is caught in a controversy after Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s claim that the ex-top judge had sought his resignation after a presidential reference was filed against him.

During his tenure as an apex court judge, Justice Khosa drew the ire of almost everyone including political parties, religious parties, judges, lawyers and the security establishment.

“Justice Khosa disqualified two prime ministers [one each from PPP and PML-N], steered the unprecedented trial of military ruler Pervez Musharraf to conclusion, directed parliament to regulate the appointment of army chiefs, fearlessly acquitted Aasia Bibi, re-imprisoned Shahrukh Jatoi, clarified the definition of terrorism, and decided a record 10,000 criminal cases in just a few years,” Barrister Asad Rahim Khan told The Express Tribune.

“The only reason he was able to accomplish all of this was because his integrity was unimpeachable.”

Justice Khosa had annoyed the PPP regime in 2012 when in the matter related to the disqualification of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, he had written an additional note, which included an original rendition of Khalil Gibran’s poem 'Pity the nation'.

Interestingly, Gilani was his close friend since childhood. Justice Khosa also authored the ruling wherein death sentence of Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was upheld.

He was also part of bench which had acquitted Christian woman Aasia Bibi in a blasphemy case.

Due to these judgments, he was unpopular among religious parties. Even soon after Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging, then army chief Raheel Sharif had offered him foolproof security but he declined to accept it.

In April 2017, the former CJ had also vexed the PML-N regime when he had disqualified former premier Nawaz Sharif for his “false” statements while providing the money trail for the purchase of his family’s London flats.

He faced harsh criticism by PML-N leaders for opening his judgment with a quote from the novel ‘The Godfather. The party’s leaders had even decided to file a reference against him.

Soon after becoming the chief justice in January last year, he introduced model courts as well as district complaints cell for addressing the grievances of citizens against police officials.

However, lawyers did not welcome his reforms and started boycotting court proceedings.

Though Justice Khosa never misbehaved with any lawyer during a hearing, he never granted them adjournments.

Several judges were also annoyed with Justice Khosa during his tenure.

In his judgments, he raised serious questions over the conduct of two high court judges. On account of his rulings, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) had initiated proceedings of misconduct against them.

As an SJC member, he authored an opinion wherein president was recommended to remove former Islamabad High Court judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.

Likewise, a Lahore High Court judge also faced SJC misconduct proceedings on account of the revelation of his name in the Panama leaks.

One section of lawyers blamed Justice Khosa for initiating SJC proceedings against the LHC judge. Later, the judge resigned from his post.

Now Justice Isa has accused Justice Khosa of being biased and claimed that the former CJ wanted his resignation.

Likewise, one section of lawyers has alleged that Justice Khosa had also sought the resignation of a Sindh High Court judge after a presidential reference was filed against him.

Though the relationship between Justice Khosa and the PTI regime remained cordial, the former CJ at the end of his tenure irked the government and security establishment when he took up a petition against the current army chief’s job extension.

A senior official said Justice Khosa was among the few judges who had turned down a briefing from the military establishment on national issues.

Unlike his predecessors, he had also refused to interact with powerful circles during his tenure as the CJ.

Justice Khosa had nominated the late Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth as the head of special court.

Some lawyers claimed that he was a judge with big ambitions. To fulfil them, he passed rulings against his fellow judges and top functionaries of the government.