Tensions arise in top court as CJP questions PTI lawyer's accusations

• Latif Khosa urges SC to fix Imran Khan's plea in Toshakhana case.
• CJP Isa reassures PTI lawyer of relief available under the law.
• "Khosa sahib you hurl allegations [against us]," remarks top judge. 
  

ISLAMABAD: A day after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) senior leader Latif Khosa expressed unwillingness to continue to fight a case before the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the senior lawyer and the top judge once again engaged in an 'interesting' verbal exchange on Tuesday.

Appearing before the apex court — while representing a client in a service matter-related case — Khosa requested the apex court to fix PTI founder Imran Khan’s appeal against his disqualification in the Toshakhana case.

Khosa's plea comes a day after after the party withdrew its petition — filed on December 26, 2023 — seeking contempt proceedings against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over its alleged failure to ensure a level-playing field ahead of the upcoming elections.

While appearing before the court on Monday, Khosa had said: "We do not want to fight this case in your [CJP Isa's] court. Thank you very much."

To this, the chief justice remarked: "If you don't accept the verdict then there's nothing the [court] can do [...] You are destroying all the institutions of Pakistan."

However, in today’s hearing, when the PTI leader raised the issue of the Toshakhana case, the top judge said: “On the one hand you express distrust over the judiciary, on the other, you also seek relief [for your clients].”

“Khosa sahib you hurl allegations [against us when outside the court],” CJP Isa remarked.

However, the chief justice directed Khosa to file the request for an early hearing reassuring him that the court would ensure that whatever relief is available as per the law, is duly given.

The top judge's remarks come as the top court, on December 27, had refused to conduct an immediate hearing of Khan’s plea against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) ruling — dismissing his petition seeking suspension of his conviction by a trial in the Toshakhana case — owing to unavailability of judges owing to winter vacation.

The conversation comes in the backdrop of a major setback suffered by the PTI after the chief justice-led three-member bench upheld the ECP’s appeal against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict that had annulled the electoral body’s ruling of revoking the party’s “bat” symbol over “unlawful” intra-party polls.

In its January 13 unanimous order, the court stated that since the ECP had been calling upon PTI to hold its intra-party elections since 24 May 2021, the time when the party was in power, "it cannot be stated that ECP was victimising PTI".

The ruling has left the party “high and dry” ahead of the February 8 polls as its candidates would now have to contest the elections in an independent capacity.