Justice Dost Mohammad Khan: bar councils concerned at absence of full-court reference

Bar councils have expressed serious concern over absence of a full-court reference ceremony to mark the end of the tenure of Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, who retired on March 19 and taking up the petition against Justice Qazi Faez Isa on April 4. The bar councils of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pukhtoonkhawa have decided to hold a convention in this regard on April 7.
Peshawar High Court (PHC) lawyers had protested at not arranging a reference and farewell dinner for Justice Dost Muhammad. Chief Justice PHC Yahya Afridi on March 20 had met with Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar in order to convey the resentment expressed by the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) over holding no reference in honour of Justice Khan.
Supreme Court Registrar Arbab Muhammad Arif on March 21, 2018 wrote a letter to his counterpart in the Peshawar High Court Muhammad Saleem Khan explaining why no reference was held on the eve of retirement of Justice Dost Muhammad Khan. The objective of the letter was to remove misgivings expressed by PHC Chief Justice Yahya Afridi.
Vice-Chairman Balochi-stan Bar Council Haji Attaullah Lango while talking to Business Recorder said that the petition, pending for the last eight years and surprisingly fixed on April 4 for hearing by an apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, appears to be vindictive. Riaz Hanif Rahi had filed a petition against the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa as chief justice of the Balochistan High Court and his elevation to the Supreme Court in the apex court 8 years ago.
The petition is being fixed after Justice Faez delivered daring orders, particularly in the Hudaibya Paper Mills case, the Faizabad dharna, and passed remarks in a petition against Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, he added.
In PML-N leader Shakeel Awan's election petition against Sh Rasheed, Justice Faez had stated that the Panama papers verdict should be applied to all those cases where candidates have provided incorrect information in their nomination papers. He said: "If Sh Rasheed had mis-declared his assets in his nomination papers then he should also be disqualified."
Lango further said, in the Faizabad dharna's suo motu, Justice Faez had expressed dismay over the performance of intelligence agencies, particularly ISI, for not tracing the source of income of Tehreek-e-Labaik Chief Khadim Hussain Rizivi.
Karachi Bar Association (KBA) in a resolution passed a day ago expressed its deep concern over recent developments that 'pose a serious threat to the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law in Pakistan and the ideal of a democratic federation and, in particular, the independence of the judiciary and its reputation among the people of Pakistan'. KBA endorsed the joint resolution of Peshawar High Court Bar, Peshawar Bar Association and the KPK Bar Council in this regard.
The KBA questioned; "whether the recent emergence of the petition challenging the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa is a mere coincidence or an attempt by non-democratic forces to intimidate independent judges and it linked to his courageous report on the Quetta carnage." The KBA resolution also raised a question; "Whether the departure from settled precedent in not holding a full court reference for Justice Dost Muhammad should be promptly and publicly clarified directly by the persons concerned so as to lay the present pernicious speculation to rest?"