‘Bench hearing pleas against leaks commission not appropriate ‘statement to SC

The Justice Isa-led judicial commission probing audio leaks raised objections on Wednesday over the larger bench hearing petitions against the formation of the commission, and maintained that it was “not appropriate” for the bench to hear the petitions.

The government on May 20 formed a commission – led by Supreme Court puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, comprising Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq – to probe into the genuineness of some audio leaks concerning serving and former members of the judiciary and their impact on the independence of the judiciary.

A number of petitioners including former prime minister Imran Khan challenged the formation of the commission. Later, a five-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed, suspended the probe panel’s proceedings while hearing the petitions.

In a concise statement responding to a petition, the commission maintained that “it would not be appropriate for this bench to hear these petitions”.

“The oath taken by the Chief Justices and Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts require them to act, ‘in accordance with the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the law’,” it detailed.

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The statement said that the judges were required to “abide by the code of conduct issued by the Supreme Court Judicial Council” and not allow their “personal interest to influence their ‘official conduct’ or ‘official decisions’”.

Quoting the code of conduct requirements, it continued that a judge “must decline resolutely to act in a case involving his own interest, including those of persons whom he regards and treats as near relatives or close friends”.

Moreover, “a Judge must refuse to deal with any case in which he has a connection with one party or its lawyer more than the other, or even with both parties and their lawyers”.

“To ensure that justice is not only done, but is also seen to be done, a Judge must avoid all possibility of his opinion or action in any case being swayed by any consideration of personal advantage, either direct or indirect.”

The commission’s concise statement said that one of the audio recordings “allegedly pertains to the mother-in-law of the Hon’ble Chief Justice”, while Justice Munib Akhtar “may also be mentioned in the said recording”.

It further said that “in another audio recording reference is made to case fixation before a particular bench” headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

The statement also argued that “members of the Commission are bound to act in accordance with the law”, adding that the Constitution, law and the code of conduct must also be observed by the members of the commission.

“The law includes the Act, which grants to the Federal Government the power, under Section 3(2), to constitute inquiry commission” and that the act did not “stipulate that the Government must consult with the Chief Justice of Pakistan before it constitutes a commission”.

Section 3(2) was quoted in the statement as “the Federal Government shall, by Notification in the official gazette, appoint the members of the Commission and where more than one member are so appointed, the Federal Government shall designate one of the members to be the Chairman of the Commission”.

The statement maintained that the Act did not grant power to the CJP to nominate members of a commission.

“Merely because the Government may elect to consult the Chief Justice does not mean that it has to. The Act has existed for over six years and, to the best of the knowledge of the undersigned, no challenge to it or specifically to its section 3(2) has been made, let alone the same having been struck down”.

SC adjourns hearing

The SC adjourned the hearing of pleas challenging the formation of the audio leaks commission till next week as it returned the federal government’s petition asking top judges to recuse themselves from hearing pleas against the inquiry commission probing audio leaks.

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A day earlier, the government had sought the recusal of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar from the bench hearing petitions against the constitution of the inquiry commission probing the audio leaks.

It also requested the CJP to reconstitute the bench in this matter.

However, the SC’s registrar objected to the government’s request, stating that objections regarding a bench are raised before the bench itself and not the Registrar’s Office.

Adjourning the hearing to the next week, the chief justice said that he would hear the objections raised by the federal government regarding the top court bench next week, and maintained that he would hear the government first.

Justice Bandial also informed the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) that the Registrar’s Office returned the request of the AGP’s office. He said that the RO’s advice was correct, traditionally objections regarding benches were not raised before the RO.

The court requested the petitioners to respond to the answers submitted in the audio leaks commission case.