ISLAMABAD: Senior judge of the Supreme Court Justice Faez Isa has written a letter to the President Arif Alvi after reports about reference against him as additional attorney general Zahid F. Ebrahim also resigned in protest over the reference.
According to reports, in the letter, Justice Isa has asked the president about confirmation about the reference, which has been reportedly filed in the Supreme Judicial Council. Justice Isa said that if the reports are confirmed that he should also be provided a copy of the reference.
He said that content of the reference could only be made public after permission from the Supreme Judicial Council. He said that his response to the reference should also be made public with the permission of the SJC. He said that selected leaks are character assassination, which could also undermine the independence of the judiciary.
Meanwhile, Zahid F. Ebrahim Wednesday tendered his resignation to President Arif Alvi in reaction to the purported filing of references against some senior judges of the Supreme Court and Sindh High Court — a development he described as “reckless attempt to browbeat the judiciary”.
The additional attorney general, in his resignation, said it was reported in the media that he [President Alvi] has directed “the Supreme Judicial Council to inquire into the alleged misconduct of certain senior judges of the Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court under Article 209 of the Constitution on the pretext of undeclared foreign assets”.
“The same has been confirmed to me by persons at the highest levels of the government,” he added.
Ebrahim stated that one of the “references is against a senior Supreme Court judge who is widely recognised for his unimpeachable integrity and against whom the government has already revealed its mind in the much publicised review petitions in S.M.C. No.7 of 2017 filed last month”.
The state prosecutor alleged that the filing of references “is not about accountability of judges but is a reckless attempt to tar the reputation of independent individuals and could cause irreparable damage to the institution which is the protector of our fundamental rights and the bedrock of our fledgling democracy”.
“In the view of the above, I cannot in good conscience continue in office,” Ebrahim added.
