Will CJ Isa finally give relief to PTI?

ISLAMABAD:

 

After depriving the PTI of its election symbol, the Supreme Court is going to take up today the party’s petition seeking contempt proceedings against authorities, including the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), for violating its order about providing a level playing field to the party.

However, PTI supporters are depressed after the court’s Saturday ruling, with one section within the party urging the PTI legal team not to attend the hearing.

Interestingly, the same bench that restored the ECP's decision regarding the withdrawal of PTI's election symbol is hearing the contempt matter. Led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) Qazi Faez Isa, the bench comprises Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.

Sources indicate that the PTI has yet to submit its written response to the ECP and Punjab government’s replies. Both respondents have rejected the PTI’s claim that their party is being persecuted.

Sardar Latif Khosa is representing the PTI in this case. The sources revealed that PTI legal minds have yet to finalize their legal strategy after the Saturday order.

CJ Qazi Faez Isa is facing severe criticism on account of Saturday's verdict. PTI lawyers have always faced a tough time in the court of Justice Isa. Justice Isa discussed the PTI's 2014 marathon sit-in in the Faizabad Dharna case judgment, issued in February 2019.

Following this judgment, the PTI challenged the case verdict, while the party-led government filed a presidential reference against the judge, accusing him of financial misconduct.

While the Supreme Judicial Council was holding proceedings on the misconduct complaint, PTI supporters were running a malicious campaign against Justice Isa and his family members, apparently at the behest of the security establishment, according to some analysts.

During the term of CJ Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Isa had taken notice of former prime minister Imran Khan’s participation in a lawyers’ convention organized by the PTI’s legal wing in Islamabad.

However, in February 2021, the apex court ruled that Justice Isa should not hear cases involving Imran Khan, who was serving as the prime minister then.

Read: SC deals final blow to PTI’s ‘bat’ hopes

“The Hon Chief Justice of Pakistan [Gulzar Ahmed], therefore, observed that in these circumstances it would not be proper for the Hon Judge [Isa] to hear the matter considering that he had already filed a petition against the Prime Minister of Pakistan in his personal capacity.

“Therefore, to uphold the principle of unbiasedness and impartiality, it would be in the interest of justice that the Hon Judge should not hear matters involving the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” said a five-page order authored by CJ Ahmed.

Two former CJs—Gulzar Ahmed and Umar Ata Bandial—did not include Justice Isa in any larger or special bench hearing matters related to the PTI.

When Justice Isa became the CJ, some legal experts had noted that the judge’s biggest challenge would be how he would deal with cases related to the PTI.

Despite using social media, the PTI could not succeed in getting relief from Justice Isa. Although the SC led by CJ Isa is ensuring the holding of general elections on February 8, the credibility of elections is at stake after the withdrawal of the election symbol of the largest party in the country.

It is clear from Justice Isa's observations that he has serious concerns about the May 9 incidents.
The SC under CJ Isa has not entertained Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan's plea regarding the alleged enforced disappearance of PTI leaders, as well as Imran Khan's letter about the harassment of his party leaders.

PTI supporters are losing hope about getting relief from the CJ Isa-led bench, just as the PML-N lost hope of getting relief from CJ Saqib Nisar and the PPP from CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

It will be interesting to see how the bench led by CJ Isa will restore the PTI's faith in the judiciary after Saturday's order.

After Saturday's order, the burden is not on the powerful circles or the ECP for not providing a level playing field to the PTI but on the apex court.