SC judge asks Farogh Naseem to prove Justice Isa gave wife money to buy property

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday resumed hearing the presidential reference against senior judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa in relation to the allegation he was hiding assets in London in wealth returns.

A ten-member larger SC bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the case today.

In today’s hearing, the federal government's counsel, Barrister Farogh Naseem, told the apex court that he would give arguments regarding the judge’s "misconduct".

“We cannot limit the misconduct of the judge to the violation of a certain law,” he said, adding that both Justice Isa and his wife had not declared their London properties.

In response, Justice Baqir told Naseem to prove it on "any forum" that the judge gave his wife money to buy the property. Naseem, in response, said a person not declaring assets under their or their spouse's name committed a punishable crime.

“Under the Article 63, the member of the Assembly not declaring properties, loses his membership,” said the government’s lawyer. Mentioning that the Constitution was impartial, he said there was no division about a wife being a dependent in the Article 63.

The federal government lawyer argued that the wife was part of the judge’s family and that, in the UK, a wife writing the bar a letter can lead to action against the judge.

“Is this all your case? The arguments that you are giving do not count as your case,” said Justice Baqir. "Everyone wanted the case to come to a conclusion soon."

In the hearing, Justice Isa’s lawyer, Munir A Malik, submitted a written response to the court.

In one of the previous hearings, Supreme Court’s Justice Muneeb Akhtar asked how could President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan approve a presidential reference based on "false legal advice".

“Telling you in a lenient way that this legal mistake can have consequences,” the apex court judge threatened in his remarks.

The judge asked the government’s counsel and former law minister to tell him about the "brilliant" person who advised the president and premier to approve the reference against the SC judge.

Naseem had earlier tendered his resignation to represent government in the case against the judge.

The reference filed against Justice Isa alleged that he had acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015 but did not disclose them in wealth returns.