The government-constituted judicial commission led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa — probing the veracity of recent audio leaks — on Wednesday raised objections to the five-judge bench hearing pleas against its formation as Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial adjourned proceedings on the petitions till next week.
The federal coalition had formed the commission on May 20 under Section 3 of the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act 2017. Led by senior puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the commission also comprised Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
But last week, the top court, while hearing a set of four petitions against the appointment of the commission, restrained the panel from going ahead with its task.
“I am sorry to say that efforts have been made regrettably, maybe unknowingly, to draw a wedge between the judges of the court,” CJP Bandial had said.
Subsequently, the government-appointed commission decided to put its proceedings on hold until the SC decided the petitions challenging its formation.
A day earlier, the government filed an appeal in the apex court seeking the reconstitution of a five-member bench hearing pleas against the formation of a judicial commission — set up to probe the veracity of recent audio leaks that had implicated politicians as well as judges of the top court and their family members.
Earlier today, the commission, in a concise statement submitted to the SC, also objected to the five-member bench. It said judges were required to not allow their “personal interest to influence their ‘official conduct’ or ‘official decisions’”.
However, the five-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed, adjourned the hearing on petitions challenging the formation of the judicial commission shortly after it commenced.
