{"id":23283,"date":"2023-11-10T18:47:06","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T18:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/justice-naqvi-raises-issues-with-sjc-inquiry-against-him-calls-for-cjp-2-other-judges-to-recuse-themselves\/"},"modified":"2023-11-10T18:47:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T18:47:06","slug":"justice-naqvi-raises-issues-with-sjc-inquiry-against-him-calls-for-cjp-2-other-judges-to-recuse-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/justice-naqvi-raises-issues-with-sjc-inquiry-against-him-calls-for-cjp-2-other-judges-to-recuse-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Naqvi raises issues with SJC inquiry against him, calls for CJP, 2 other judges to recuse themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Raising issues with the Supreme Judicial Council\u2019s (SJC) inquiry against him, Supreme Court Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi on Friday called for Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and two other judges to recuse themselves from the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, the SJC had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1784203\">issued<\/a> a show-cause notice to Justice Naqvi in connection with 10 complaints lodged against him over alleged misconduct and assets beyond means, and directed the judge to submit a reply within two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The SJC is a constitutional body that probes allegations of misconduct against the judges of Supreme and high courts. It comprises the chief justice, two senior-most Supreme Court judges and two senior-most high courts\u2019 chief justices.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, CJP Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Lahore High Court Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar are SJC members. CJP Isa, Justice Masood and CJ Akhtar had voted to issue the notice, while Justice Ahsan and CJ Bhatti had requested more time to consider the complaints.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1738832\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In a \u201cpreliminary reply\u201d today to the show-cause notice, Justice Naqvi cited \u201cserious prejudice\u201d against him and said CJP Isa, Justice Masood and CJ Akhtar should recuse themselves and not hear the matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the interest of propriety, justice and fairness, Mr Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Mr Justice Naeem Akhtar ought not to hear the complaints against me,\u201d he said, adding that their participation had tainted the SJC proceedings with \u201cbias and makes all orders passed in such proceedings as being without lawful authority and of no legal effect\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He further said that regarding Justice Masood, \u201cit is submitted that having <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1777913\">already expressed an opinion<\/a> on the complaints against me, he is<br \/>\ndisqualified from hearing those complaints as a member of SJC.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe interests of justice, the due process of law and the requirements of natural justice dictate that no further proceedings of the SJC with regard to the so-called complaints against me be presided over or participated in\u201d by the aforementioned three judges, Justice Naqvi argued.<\/p>\n<p>He added that such an action would \u201cnot be unprecedented\u201d, citing the recusal of Justices Ahsan and Masood from hearing the constitutional petitions challenging the reference against CJP Isa.<\/p>\n<p>Elaborating on his \u201cobjections to the composition of the SJC\u201d, Justice Naqvi explained that Justice Isa, in his capacity as a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), had opposed his nomination to the apex court and also \u201cwrote a detailed dissenting note raising objections \u2026 in respect<br \/>\nof certain judgments of mine as a judge of the LHC \u2026 , my income tax returns and my assets declaration\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Naqvi said he had requested the minutes of the JCP meeting and the dissenting note but the request was declined.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is submitted that denial of information which directly and materially<br \/>\naffects my case before the SJC is in violation of my fundamental rights of fair trial, due process and access to information. Further, it is curious that while it is claimed that the JCP proceedings are confidential and its minutes cannot be made available to me, a press release was issued to the public at large informing about the SJC proceedings and orders passed therein subjecting me to a media trial and causing serious prejudice to me,\u201d Justice Naqvi said.<\/p>\n<p>Further, he said that Justices Isa and Masood had written to former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial in April to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1745751\">proceed on the complaints<\/a> against him without any more delay. Justice Naqvi added that in responding to the letter, he had submitted that \u201cseeking expeditious disposal of the complaints<br \/>\nagainst me without even mentioning the complaints pending against<br \/>\nother judges established the bias of the two honourable judges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Justice Naqvi said the two judges had denied any bias in a subsequent response to his letter.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1754583\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>He also said that Justices Isa and Akhtar were the chairman and a member of an inquiry commission to determine the veracity of alleged audio leaks regarding himself. He said the commission had passed an order about the matter on May 22 but the apex court had stayed its operation and proceedings on May 26, thus the matter was sub-judice. Justice Naqvi said that the same audio leaks being investigated by the commission were also a part of the complaints in the SJC and thus the two judges should not hear the complaints against him.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding Justice Masood, Justice Naqvi said that from letters the judge cu-authored on April 3 and April 26, it was established that he had already \u201cformed a view in the matter\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Naqvi also said that Justice Masood had taken three months to give his opinions on the complaints against the former when previous chief justice Bandial had asked for them in May.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe opinion, however, was submitted on September 25, 2023. It was<br \/>\nsubmitted only after Mr Justice Umar Ata Bandial had retired as chief<br \/>\njustice of Pakistan. It is clear from the chronology of events that the<br \/>\nopinion was deliberately delayed till the composition of the SJC had<br \/>\nchanged after retirement of Mr Justice Umar Ata Bandial. Further, the<br \/>\nsubmission of the report was also leaked to the press and became a<br \/>\nsubject of press comment,\u201d Justice Naqvi said.<\/p>\n<p>He further added: \u201cThird, as per press reports, in an interaction with court reporters at the oath-taking ceremony of Mr Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, Mr Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, by inference, used derogatory language against<br \/>\nme and disclosed outcome of the SJC proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, he said that since Justice Masood was himself facing an SJC complaint, he should not hear the complaint against Justice Naqvi. \u201cHis participation in the proceedings resulting in a show cause notice being issued to me taints those proceedings, inter alia, with bias and makes all orders passed in such proceedings as being without lawful authority and of no legal effect,\u201d the judge concluded.<\/p>\n<p>He said the complaints against him were \u201cfrivolous\u201d and were based on \u201cconjecture and false allegations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone are supported by evidence. They are, therefore, liable to be dismissed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe proceedings against me are politically motivated and lack legality, propriety and transparency,\u201d Justice Naqvi concluded in his preliminary reply.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"issues-with-sjc-proceedings\" href=\"#issues-with-sjc-proceedings\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Issues with SJC proceedings<\/h2>\n<p>The judge also raised several issues with the SJC proceedings, saying that it was \u201cevident from the record that the manner in which the proceedings have<br \/>\nbeen initiated against me by issuing the show-cause notice by the SJC is repugnant to and inconsistent with the fundamental rights<br \/>\nguaranteed to me by the Constitution\u201d and also in direct conflict with prior apex court judgements.<\/p>\n<p>He said the issuance of a press release about the proceedings without his consent violated his fundamental rights, subjected him to a media trial and \u201cfurther maligns and ridicules me in the public eye\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Naqvi argued that the SJC proceedings of SJC and the show-cause notice suffered several \u201cconstitutional, jurisdictional and legal defects\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no discussion or enquiry into the allegations against me. No<br \/>\ninformation was sought either from me or any other quarter to verify<br \/>\nthe allegation,\u201d the judge argued.<\/p>\n<p>He also contrasted and criticised the treatment meted out to him and to the other judges facing complaints in the SJC against them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe show-cause notice does not disclose any allegation against me. That 10<br \/>\ncomplaints were attached with the show-cause notice. Those complaints contain multiple false and frivolous allegations which are not supported by<br \/>\nevidence. The show-cause notice fails to identify the allegation(s) in those complaints which I am required to answer. It also does not specify the relevant provisions of the Constitution or the Code of Conduct of Judges which have allegedly been violated. The show-cause notice is, therefore, vague, illegal and a nullity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe allegations contained in the complaints are at variance. The show-cause notice does not identify whether I am called upon to answer the common<br \/>\nallegations or that I am to respond to them jointly or that I am to<br \/>\nrespond to each and every allegation in each complaint,\u201d Justice Naqvi said while criticising the content and technical points of the notice to him.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raising issues with the Supreme Judicial Council\u2019s (SJC) inquiry against him, Supreme Court Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi on Friday called for Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and two other judges to recuse themselves from the matter. Last month, the SJC had issued a show-cause notice to Justice Naqvi in connection with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/11\/1018481918a9d93.png?r=184825","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}