Ready to play role if things go awry in Isa case: AGP

Believes top court’s judgement should be accepted in ‘letter and spirit’

ISLAMABAD:

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan has said that if the federal government’s curative review petition in Justice Qazi Faez Isa case becomes a bone of contention between the judiciary and the executive then he is ready to play his role in bridging the difference.

The AGP made the remarks in an interview with a private TV channel. He said due to the conflict of interest he had recused himself from defending a presidential reference against Justice Isa earlier in 2020.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s decision of quashing a presidential reference against Justice Isa, the AGP said he believed that as a lawyer not as AGP the top court’s judgement should be accepted in “letter and spirit”.

However, he added that if there is an option in law then it must be exercised. “Whether the curative review is maintainable or not, I will not comment as it is pending in the court,” he added.

The AGP laid emphasis on making an institution of judiciary strong to strengthen the Constitution of the country.

“Unity of judiciary will make it strong. Judiciary is the guardian of citizens’ fundamental rights and interpreter of the Constitution… It’s in no one's interest to make the judiciary verdict controversial,” he remarked.

Read Newly-appointed AGP recuses himself from representing govt in Justice Isa case

The AGP said the two major principles of justice are accountability and transparency of judges and the second was the independence of judiciary. “Some people see that there is a clash between both principles.”

The AGP said, “History tells us that whenever any government in the past filed any reference against any judge its consequences were ‘worst’ for both the executive and the judiciary. We should learn lessons from the past and move ahead."

He added that according to his information, “there is a difference of opinion among the apex court judges but their approach is that once a judgement is issued then it will be considered as ‘whole Supreme Court ruling’”.

The AGP said that the curative review petition is pending in the top court, however, his efforts would be to maintain a smooth relationship between the two state's pillars.

He said that parameters should be set for exercising Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, adding that institutions function smoothly when they work within their domain.

He suggested that the Supreme Court full meeting should be summoned to set some principle for exercising Articles related to the public interest.