ISLAMABAD: A contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood for not hearing the petition on civilians’ trials in the military courts.

A lawyer of high court, Muhammad Shahid Rana, on Monday, filed a petition against the senior-most judges of the apex court under Article 204 of the Constitution read with section 2 (b) (c) of the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003.

He submitted that the respondents (Justice Faez and Justice Tariq) are the judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and are bound to perform judicial and administrative work entrusted to them by the chief justice of Pakistan within the framework of the 1973 Constitution.

The lawyer has argued that by refusing to abide by the SC’s orders suspending a law, they have committed contempt of court. “Contempt is a crime against the state and contemnors cannot be set at liberty to sabotage the peace of the country,” he stated.

At the outset of the first hearing against the trial of civilians in the military courts, the two senior-most judges had expressed serious reservations about the court proceeding with hearing cases till the matter concerning the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, was settled. Justice Faez in an open court said that on a query of CJP Bandial he had explained in writing why he was not sitting in court benches. Justice Faez believes that the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, which regulates the CJP’s discretionary powers, cannot be suspended by the court.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023