ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday accepted the review petitions of Justice Qazi Faez Isa challenging the court’s verdict on the presidential reference against him.
The court was hearing review petitions filed against the court’s June 19, 2020, verdict on the presidential reference, in which the court had empowered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to conduct an inquiry into the offshore assets of Justice Isa’s spouse Mrs Sarina Isa.
A 10-judge larger bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, accepted the review petition filed by Sarina Isa by a majority of 6-4. However, five judges accepted Justice Isa’s review petition, while five were against it.
The judges who accepted all the review petitions included- Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel.
Justice Yahya Afridi accepted all the review petitions except the one by Justice Isa. Whereas, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah dissented from the verdict.
The court declared the legal actions taken by the FBR and all other forums pertaining to the assets of Justice Isa’s wife and children as illegal. According to the majority verdict, the FBR report could not be challenged in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) or any other legal forum.
The presidential reference filed against Justice Isa had alleged that he (Justice Isa) had acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015 but did not disclose them in his wealth returns.
Justice Isa had contended that he was not a beneficial owner of these properties either directly or indirectly. In June 2020, the apex court had thrown out the presidential reference, terming it “invalid”.
However, seven of the 10 judges on the bench hearing the case had ordered the FBR to seek explanations from the judge’s wife and children on the nature and source of funding for three properties in their names in the United Kingdom and submit a report to the apex court registrar. Justice Isa then had approached the apex court, seeking a review of the decision.