Bajwa, Faiz made party to IHC judge case

Sacked judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui also names IHC former chief justice, SC registrar as respondents

ISLAMABAD:

Sacked Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui has requested the Supreme Court to make some former servicemen including former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Inter-Services Intelligence (IS) chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed a party to a case about alleged manipulation of the IHC.

The judge has also prayed that IHC former chief justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi and former Supreme Court registrar Arbab Muhammad Arif may be also arrayed as respondents in the case.

Siddiqui submitted this application after a larger bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa resumed hearing on his petition filed against his sacking by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) in 2018.

On October 11, 2018, the SJC had unanimously opined that while delivering a speech before the District Bar Association in Rawalpindi on July 21, 2018, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had displayed “a conduct unbecoming of a high court judge”.

In the speech, the former judge had accused the ISI of interfering in the formation of IHC benches that were supposed to hear former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against his conviction in one of the three corruption references that had emanated from the Panama Papers case.

During the Thursday hearing that was live streamed on the SC website and on YouTube, the CJP noted that if the former judge was accusing someone then he should make them a party to the case.

“[This is necessary] so that we can also hear their versions as well. If you are accusing personalities, then why don’t you make them a party?” he asked.

The CJP remarked that people blamed institutions rather than naming a person. “Institutions are run by the people,” he added.

Siddiqui's counsel Hamid Khan read out his client's July 21 speech that led to his removal.

However, the bench urged him to either make the officials a party to the case, or withdraw his allegations against them.

Later, Hamid Khan requested more time for submitting an application to name the people who were allegedly involved in manipulation of benches as respondents.

The court later adjourned till Friday [today].

In the application submitted to the court later in the day, Siddiqi also named Brig (retd) Irfan Ramay; Brig (retd) Faisal Marwat and Brig (retd) Tahir Wafai as respondents.