Bahria Town case: Barrister Ali Zafar submits response to SC

Claims observations made by Justice Khawaja were based on unfounded presumptions

ISLAMABAD: Barrister Ali Zafar, the counsel for Bahria Town, has submitted his reply to the Supreme Court explaining his reservations about Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, which were expressed in his letter written to the chief justice of Pakistan.

In his reply given to a three-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Zafar on Thursday said there are many glorious and citable examples of other judges who on account of much lesser ground have gracefully stepped aside from hearing a case when a party has accused them of a possible bias against them.

“The observations made by Justice Khawaja on March 31 were based on insufficient and unfounded presumptions,” he said. As a lawyer, he has always followed his conscience in all cases and has never acted as the ‘puppet’ of a client, Barrister Zafar added.

He said it is the right of an advocate to plead the case of his client and to represent his client’s grievances forcefully.

After the break, the court asked the counsel to read out the response. Hearing the response, the court expressed resentment and Justice Khawja left the hearing along with his bench, saying he will give the verdict after reviewing the response.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2015.