Justice Qazi Faez Isa—the senior most judge of the apex court after the chief justice—has said he stands with the Constitution at a time when the federal government and the judiciary are at loggerheads and the schism between two groups of the Supreme Court judges is no longer a secret.
The presence of the senior puisne judge in the National Assembly’s hall at the golden jubilee of the 1973 Constitution triggered a controversy as some critics said the judge shouldn’t have attended the ceremony where he sat among the lawmakers whose cases he once heard in his courtroom.
Justice Isa, who walked to the Parliament House from the Supreme Court building, was the only top court judge to attend the National Constitution Convention (NCC).
It is learnt that National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf had invited all Supreme Court judges. However, no one opted to attend the event except Justice Isa.
As he went back to the Supreme Court from the Parliament House after making a speech, several people, including YouTubers, intercepted the judge and asked him various questions but he remained silent, conveying that he had said whatever he wanted to say at the assembly hall.
It surprised many when Justice Isa sat in the front row on the treasury benches along with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former president Asif Ali Zardari and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
Though members of the legal fraternity considered Justice Isa’s presence in the parliament as a historical development, they said the senior puisne judge should have avoided attending the convention in view of the current polarization arising out of the Punjab polls’ case.
Despite the government’s reservations, incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial had recently ordered elections in Punjab. Subsequently, the National Assembly had passed a resolution against the SC verdict while the government had asked the top judge to step down.
Former Sindh High Court Bar Association president Salahuddin Ahmed, who was a member of Justice Isa’s legal team once, said Justice Isa should not have attended the convention at a time of political turmoil. “Perceptions matter. Even if he went there, he should have sat separately,” he added.
However, he said, those calling it a misconduct or unprecedented are uninformed. Even former chief justice Awnar Zaheer Jamali had addressed the Senate during his tenure. Interestingly, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did not give an official response to Justice Isa participation in the event.
Read Judiciary, executive trying to cool frayed tempers
However, pro-PTI lawyers and media persons criticized Justice Isa for sitting with the lawmakers who got relief from his court in the past. For instance, Ishaq Dar, who was sitting on his left side, is a beneficiary of his ruling in the Hudabiya Paper Mills reference case. Also, Zardari, who was sitting on the right side, was exonerated by the Memogate Commission led by Justice Isa.
The commission, whose report was authored by Justice Isa, had conceded in its final report, presented before a larger bench of the Supreme Court that “no evidence was produced before us that would indicate that President Asif Ali Zardari had either authorised the preparation of the memorandum or directed that it be sent to the American administration…”
Justice Isa started his speech by saying that he came to the parliament to convey that he along with his institution stands with the Constitution. In his speech, Justice Isa said the judiciary, the parliament and the executive’s purpose is one and that is to serve the people.
In his non-political speech, Justice Isa said the Supreme Court’s job is to swiftly decide cases as per the law and the Constitution; the parliament’s job is to enact legislation which is better for the people; and the executive and the government’s job is to implement the laws and the policies for the betterment of the people.
Addressing the speaker, Justice Isa said he had asked him before coming to the parliament if the speeches and discussion would only be limited to the Constitution and they would not wade into politics, saying that wasn’t the case.
“A lot of political speeches have been made,” Justice Isa said, smiling. “It’s their [politicians'] right guaranteed by the Constitution; I don’t say anything to them but it doesn’t mean that I agree with them.”
Justice Isa said he wanted to clarify things as cases involving lawmakers might come up before him; decisions might come against them and they might speak against him in the same assembly hall. “I came here because it was the Constitution's golden jubilee today; its celebration day,” he said.
Read more Govt demands CJ Bandial to step down
During his speech, Justice Isa recalled that his father was the only member from Balochistan in Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s 19-member central working committee of the All India Muslim League, saying his father had established the Muslim League in Balochistan.
At one point, Justice Isa said the Englishmen, who ruled the subcontinent, could have provided better administration but we wanted to move ahead by learning from our mistakes.
Justice Isa also spoke about division in the judicial corridors since independence.
He said he didn’t like the use of the word minority as those referred to as minority, are equal citizens and have contributed in the making of the country and afterwards.
“We [judges] write judgments and do not give speeches,” Justice Isa said.
In his speech, he also discussed the impact of the dissolution of the constituent assembly by Governor General Ghulam Muhammad in 1954.
Justice Isa also fondly remembered a former jurist of Parsi descent, Justice Dorab Patel, saying Justice Patel had refused to take oath of allegiance when former military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq issued a Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO).
Lauding Justice Patel’s stance, Justice Isa questioned: “If we had stood by Maulvi Tamizuddin at the time when the courts had stood by him — and rejected Ghulam Mohammad’s decree — do you think we would have seen the divide we see today?”
"The Constitution is 50-year-old now; we should keep it close to our heart now,” Justice Isa said. "The Constitution should be cherished because it guarantees peoples’ rights, which is the most important thing."
Endorsing a resolution calling for teaching the Constitution in schools, Justice Isa said it is essential for the people to understand the kind of power the Constitution gives them.
He said his wife used to teach at an American school and she told him that the school taught the children about the Constitution, right to vote, among other things, from an early stage.
He said Pakistan’s Constitution guarantees several rights that were not part of several other countries’ constitutions. He gave an example of giving right to information under Article 19-A of the Constitution.
Justice Isa said anybody could criticize him if he fails to defend the Constitution. Before concluding his roughly 15-minute speech, Justice Isa said he as well as the politicians have taken an oath to protect the Constitution.
He reiterated that he has nothing to do with the political speeches made before his speech. “It may be possible that tomorrow your case is presented before me. Do not then say that I ruled against you despite being invited here today,” he quipped.
He appreciated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for declaring April 10 as the Constitution Day. The Constitution was passed by the National Assembly on April 10, 1973, authenticated by the president on the same date and was promulgated on August 14, 1973.
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