PBC rebukes SC action against Toshakhana verdict

Bar council urges courts to conduct themselves according to Constitution; regret 'undermining' high court judges

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) spoke out against the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday saying that the apex court's observations over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's plea "gave the impression that high court judges have lost their value".

Yesterday, a special SC bench - head by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, raised questions about the manner in which a district and sessions court in Islamabad held the trial of former prime minister Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case, noting that there were apparently serious defects in the August 5 verdict of the court.

“The trial court delivered the verdict [sentencing the PTI chief to three years in prison] within a single day which was not right. Prima facie there are flaws in the trial court's decision," the CJP had observed.

The SC's hearing took shortly after the PTI chief filed a plea levelling serious allegations against the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, accusing him of having "deep and settled bias" against him.

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Speaking to journalists outside the SC premises today, PBC Vice Chairman Haroon-ur-Rashid urged the courts to proceed in accordance with the law as he rebuked the apex court for its actions from the previous day. "The observations of the Supreme Court yesterday were not legally valid," he said.

"By declaring the trial court judge's verdict as incorrect, the SC gave the impression that the appeal challenging the decision was pending here [with the SC and not the IHC]," he said.

"The SC benches are siding with a particular party," he regretted, stressing that the courts must uphold fairness and extend the same favours to the common man that were being offered to "a specific person".

Chairman of the PBC's chief executive council, Hasan Raza Pasha, reacted to the developments saying that, "Yesterday, a case was heard by the SC where it seemed like criminal law was about to be altered."

"The SC heard a case pending at the IHC," he said, noting that two judges had even turned down a request for two weeks' adjournment in proceedings by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lawyer.

"The PBC has already stated that there were discrepancies in the the PTI chief's trial which will go in his favour," the senior lawyer added, but lamented that the case was heard yesterday even though "it had not been scheduled for yesterday, and still is not listed till today".

Regretting that the SC's actions had "undermined" the high court judges, Pasha said that the apex court has "ignored all the procedures and fixed the case again today".

"Some even went far enough to say that the PTI chief had been acquitted yesterday," he said, questioning "which lower court would give a verdict in this matter after such observations from the SC".

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He also noted that the trial court's decision was declared a "hasty one" almost immediately after it was pronounced. "When the PTI chief had asked for the right to defense, it should have been granted to him," he noted.

But in the same breath he said that "the applications that had reached the SC had been deemed ineffective and the matter that the SC had decided was never before it in the first place", which he held amounted to "interference in the IHC's proceedings" on part of the apex court.

He pointed out that the application pending before the SC is one "seeking suspension of sentence, not one challenging the trial itself". Still, he admitted that "we believe that the PTI chief should get bail because of how the trial was conducted".

"We are also defenders of the Constitution," said Pasha, stressing that "we wish for the SC to hold itself in accordance with the Constitution". He also warned that the lawyers "will stand against references against judges that are filed under malicious intent".