SC reserves verdict on govt’s petition on curative review plea against Justice Isa

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial reserved on Monday his verdict on a federal government’s plea seeking the withdrawal of a curative review petition filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa by the then government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

In an in-camera proceeding, the Chief Justice of Pakistan heard the appeal for withdrawal of the curative review petition against a court order that accepted the review petitions challenging the court’s June 19, 2020, judgment on the presidential reference against Justice Isa, in which, the court had empowered Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to conduct an inquiry into the assets of the judge’s family.

Earlier, the registrar office (RO) had returned a set of nine curative review petitions on May 25, 2021, filed by the PTI-led government on the grounds that the petitions contained “scandalous language”.

The SC office also observed that a second review petition could not be filed against a decision already given on a review petition.

The RO had highlighted that the curative appeals contained many other deficiencies.

Subsequently, the federal government had lodged an appeal before the SC against the refusal by the RO to entertain unheard of legal remedy — curative review petition — in the Justice Isa case.

However, on March 30, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the withdrawal of the curative review reference as the government decided not to pursue the matter.

Talking to journalists after the Chief Justice of Pakistan completed the in-chamber hearing Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan said that the government has submitted that in our constitution, there is no room for a second review or curative review.

“In India, a second review was filed after a court judgment which was decided in 2002 following which the SC of India amended its rules and created a provision for curative review, pursuant to that judgment”, he added.

“That amendment was followed by judicial proceedings…whereas in this case there was an objection on the administrative side by the RO, against which there exists a remedy in the rules,” he added.

At that time when the reference was filed, he added, the government did not avail that remedy, but this government is no longer interested in availing the remedy, it seeks to withdraw that appeal.

“If the withdrawal order goes through, the consequence will be that the office order will be sustained, and that will be the end of it,” he added.

The AGP declined to comment about the maintainability of a reference against a chief justice according to the constitution.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023