ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan first admitted that he committed a mistake by filing a reference against the senior most judge of Supreme Court Qazi Faez Isa and then claimed that his law minister Farogh Nasim asked him to do it.
However, in a statement issued today, ex-law minister Farogh Nasim said that Imran Khan insisted on filing a reference against the honourable judge of the apex court.
hile terming it a ‘mistake’, former premier Imran Khan on Monday blamed the law ministry in the PTI government responsible for sending the reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa before the Supreme Judicial Council.
However, former law minister Farogh Naseem brushed aside the blame stating that the reference was moved only on ex-PM Khan’s insistence. Interestingly, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry took to the social media to claim that he had objected to the filing of the reference and Barrister Naseem should have admitted that it was his doing.
The admission of ‘mistake’ by the PTI chairman after a two-year hiatus is being seen as his attempt to ‘mend ties’ with the judiciary, as Mr Khan while talking to a group of reporters acknowledged that the filing of the reference was an “attempt to unnecessarily confront the judiciary”.
The observation becomes significant when viewed against the backdrop of what had been written by a member of the 10-judge Supreme Court bench that decided a set of petitions on the filing of the presidential reference against Justice Isa. In his additional note, Justice Faisal Arab wrote that when the integrity of a judge of the superior judiciary was called in question under Article 209 (5) of the Constitution, then not only his credibility but of the entire judicial institution was put at stake. The very commencement of the inquiry proceedings against a judge causes psychological pain and anguish that continues until his name gets finally cleared and the agony may even continue for some time thereafter, Justice Arab stated.
Meanwhile, the ex-law minister Farogh Naseem has said that former prime minister Imran Khan had insisted on filing the presidential reference against Supreme Court’s Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Issuing a detailed verdict in Justice Isa’s review case in January, the Supreme Court had said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) obtained the tax records of the judge and his family in an “unlawful” manner.
The detailed verdict followed a short order issued on April 26, 2021, where a 10-member full court bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, wrapped up the review case. It had set aside a June 19, 2020, judgment on the matter and nullified all proceedings that came as a result of it.
On June 19, 2020, a presidential reference filed against Justice Isa over alleged failure to disclose properties in London was quashed by the apex court.
But in an informal conversation with journalists today, the ousted prime minister said it was a mistake to file a reference against the judge while claiming that the then-law minister had briefed him on Justice Isa’s properties and assets.
