ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday adjourned Faizabad sit-in review case hearing until November 1 and has asked petitioners to submit written replies.
The federal government of Pakistan has submitted an application to withdraw its review petition in the Faizabad sit-in case, with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also expressing its desire not to pursue the matter any further.
Led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa also included Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the Faizabad sit-in review case.
The proceedings commenced with Attorney General Mansoor Awan announcing the government’s intention to withdraw its review petition. When asked for a reason by Justice Isa, Awan stated that there was no specific reason.
PTI’s lawyer, Ali Zafar, also informed the court that the party no longer wished to pursue the case, even declining an offer by Justice Isa to become a party in the case.
Nevertheless, the chief justice inquired why the review petitions had been filed initially and on whose orders.
Previously, petitions by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had been withdrawn shortly before the hearings were scheduled to begin. Reports had suggested that the government’s primary petition, filed through the Ministry of Defence, might also be withdrawn during the hearing.
Other petitioners in the case include the Election Commission of Pakistan, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), former Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, and politician Ejazul Haq.
However, Sheikh Rashid’s lawyer has requested a deferral of proceedings as Rashid has become a part of the caretaker cabinet in Balochistan and has been unreachable since he is arrested.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, expressing concern that lessons hadn’t been learned from the Faizabad sit-in and May 12 incidents, adjourned the hearing of the review petitions until November 1.
The Faizabad sit-in case judgment was delivered by Chief Justice Isa in February 2019, following a suo-motu notice taken in 2017.
The case involved various review petitions, including those by the PTI, the Election Commission, Ejaz-ul-Haq, and MQM Pakistan, challenging a judgment that examined the role of intelligence agencies in a 20-day sit-in organized by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party in November 2017. The TLP protest was in response to alleged changes made in lawmakers’ oath, specifically regarding the status of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) as the last messenger of Allah. The Supreme Court had initiated proceedings on the sit-in in November 2017, and its ruling was released on February 6, 2019.
