Full court bench hearing Justice Qazi Faez’s case dissolves

The full court 10-judge bench hearing the petition of Justice Qazi Faez against the presidential reference has been dissolved here on Monday.

The bench has forwarded the matter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa for formation of a new bench to hear the case.

On Oct. 10, Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan had submitted a response in a presidential reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Justice Umar Atta Bandial remarked that due to unavailability of Justice Mazhar Alam, the existing bench was being dissolved.

The petitioner’s advocate Munir Malik gave the stand and said that if a full court needs to be built, then all the judges should be included.

In the response, the court was told that Justice Isa was the original owner of three properties in Britain and was still reluctant to reveal the sources of his income used to purchase the properties.

The attorney general had further mentioned that the presidential reference postulated ‘benami’ nature of the properties abroad which were concealed and not disclosed as required by the law.

Importantly, the wife and children of the petitioner judge had no independent source of income and were not in a position to provide funds necessary for the purchase of three properties when they were bought.

The court was informed that the only conclusion which could be drawn was that the said properties were ‘benami’ in nature and the petitioner judge was the ostensible owner of these properties.

Mr. Mansoor Khan had further told the court that it was not wrong for the law minister to distribute checks in the bar councils.