KARACHI: Welcoming the judgment on Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s review petition, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has asked Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi to step down after the Supreme Court’s detailed verdict in the Isa case.
The PPP Chairman demanded accountability for those in the PTI government who were part of this conspiracy. Bilawal said the accountability process must begin from PM Imran Khan, who he said initiated this reference with malafide intent of attacking the Supreme Court and attempted to send a message of fear to every independent judge in the country.
The PPP chief further said attacks on the judiciary are trademarks of dictatorships. President Arif Alvi acted as Imran’s accomplice in this unconstitutional, illegal attack and as result lost any moral right to continue in office and should resign immediately.
Bilawal also accused PM’s aide on accountability Shahzad Akbar and Law Minister Farogh Naseem of acting spitefully and in bad faith to pressurize the judiciary and demanded that they should be without delay removed from their posts and an independent inquiry initiated against them.
“The whole episode is a scathing indictment of this government, its bullying tactics, and its disregard for rule of law,” The PPP chief maintained.
Bilawal said PPP has always been an unwavering advocate of a strong, independent judiciary even when historically the party has been a victim of judicial murder and unfair treatment for three generations.
On 26 April 2021, the Supreme Court accepted identical appeals challenging its earlier order of 19 June 2019 referring the matter to the FBR with a direction to start tax proceedings against the spouse and children of Justice Isa.
A 10-member full-court bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the case of Justice Isa in the apex court on Monday and handed a split 6-4 verdict.
The Supreme Court had issued the detailed verdict in Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s case and declared a presidential reference sent against him as unconstitutional. The detailed verdict released by the apex court nullified the presidential reference against Justice Isa and termed the reference as a violation of the law and the constitution.
The judgment stated that the presidential reference filed against Justice Isa was in violation of the law and the Constitution. The worthy President grossly failed to exercise his discretion as mandated under the Constitution and, thus, the entire process built thereon leading to the filing of the Reference was in violation of the law and the Constitution, the verdict read.
