ISLAMABAD: The government has set up a committee of its top legal minds to work on the possibility of filing a reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial and three other judges of the Supreme Court.
Informed sources say that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assigned his legal team to deliberate on the reference against Chief Justice Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Syed Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi after discussions with the coalition parties. What is it.
These sources said that the legal committee has been given the task to complete its work within 24 hours. The committee is working on the basis on which the reference can be filed. The committee will give its view on Friday afternoon on whether there are sufficient grounds to file a reference against the four Supreme Court judges. Sources say that the Law Minister, Attorney General, former Minister Zahid Hamid and Irfan Qadir will meet Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in which the political decision to file a reference against the three judges is legally viable. Or not.
Final approval to file the reference will be given after the committee’s recommendations are implemented but an informed ministerial source told JEE News on condition of anonymity that “politically it is almost settled”. The legal committee will tell whether it is feasible or not.
In the backdrop of the recent controversial decision of the three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice to hold elections in Punjab on May 14, the government considered the extreme option of filing a reference against the three judges in the Supreme Judicial Council.
Not only PMLN chief Nawaz Sharif pressed for such a reference, but Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also said a few days ago that a reference can be filed against the three members of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, a source claimed that in the backdrop of the government’s aggressive approach against the three-member bench of the Supreme Court and Parliament’s resolution against the Supreme Court’s verdict, things may change for the better. Sources spoke of a “message” and said the government may refrain from filing the reference if the chief justice constituted a full court to decide election-related matters in Punjab and KP. However, these claims could not be verified by independent sources.
Officials are also keeping a close eye on the motives behind the Bar Council’s announcement to file a reference against Justice Qazi Faiz Isa.
Immediately after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Federal Cabinet met and rejected the decision of the three-member bench, calling it a minority decision. On Thursday, the National Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the decision. Moved by Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) lawmaker Khalid Magsi and passed by a majority of lawmakers, the resolution mandated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet to ensure that This “unconstitutional” decision should not be implemented. It should be noted that the National Assembly, in a resolution on March 28, demanded the Supreme Court to refrain from interfering in political matters. It was also observed that several sections of the society had repeatedly appealed to the Supreme Court to constitute a full court bench but their calls were ignored and only one political party was heard in the case.
