ISLAMABAD: The former chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has comeout openly in defence of the Jutice Qazi Faez Isa.
He has said he stands by the appointment of Justice Qazi Faez Isa and willfully support his case for being constitutional, legal and on merit.
The former CJP on whose recommendation Qazi Isa was appointed CJBalochistan High Court, told The News here on Saturday that the petitionfiled against the reputed judge and also fixed for hearing for April 4 bythe Supreme Court, cannot be entertained and should have been dismissed inthe chamber.
Justice (retd) Iftikhar Chaudhry said Qazi Isa is a man of great reputeboth as a judge and as a human being and thus should not be humiliated.Recalling his appointment as the chief justice of the BHC, IftikharChaudhry said Qazi’s appointment was in line with law, constitution and theprevailing precedents.
He said there were also some precedents like Justice Tufail Ali AbdurRehman case which were followed to appoint Qazi Isa as the Chief Justice ofBHC when all the judges of the BHC had to retire following the SupremeCourt’s decision in the Sindh High Court Bar Association case of July 31,2009.
Iftikhar Chaudhry said in accordance with the pre-18th Amendmentconstitutional mechanism, the appointment was made in consultation with thethen chief justice, governor Balochistan and the president.
Since the BHC was non-functional after the retirement of all the judges, hesaid, Qazi Isa was appointed directly as the CJ BHC where he continued tillhis elevation in the apex court in 2014. Qazi Isa’s role was alsoinstrumental in the appointment of other judges in the high court.
Justice (retd) Iftikhar said the petition filed in the Supreme Courtagainst Qazi Isa’s appointment two years ago cannot be entertained.Initially, the petition was filed in the IHC which dismissed the same withcost, Iftikhar Chaudhry said, lamenting that it has now been fixed forhearing before the Supreme Court.
Chaudhry said that fixing such a petition for hearing before a SupremeCourt bench was beyond his expectation. It should have been dismissed inthe chamber, he said.