MUZAFFARABAD: A division bench of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Tuesday turned down an application by a former chief justice of the AJK Supreme Court expressing distrust and no confidence in bench members as it took up a petition challenging the alleged unlawful sale of a five-door jeep to the former CJ at a ‘throwaway price’.

The petition was filed in the first week of June by Central Bar Association Muzaffarabad members Syed Zulqarnain Naqvi, Syed Yasir Ali Gillani and Waheed Awan and civil society activists Shahid Zaman Awan, Shahab Rathore and Yasir Hussain Mughal under Article 44 of the AJK Constitution.

They had challenged a law department notification of April 2 whereby a 2007 model five-door Prado was sold to [former] CJ Chaudhry Ibrahim Zia “at a depreciated cost of Rs410,699, worked out by a deputy commissioner of the Department of Inland Revenue.”

Mr Zia retired as CJ on March 31 on attaining the age of superannuation.

According to the petition, the vehicle was purchased by the AJK government “on its book value” from an almost defunct semi-government corporation and placed at the strength of services and general administration department.

From there, it was directly transferred to the AJK Supreme Court on Feb 17 where Rs818,300 were spent on its “wear and tear” at a private workshop in Peshawar, days before its transfer to Mr Zia at the “wrongly worked out depreciated cost of Rs410,699,” added the petition.

Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja, who took up the petition, ordered to serve notices on Mr Zia and eight government officials to submit their comments by June 15.

In the meanwhile, on his recommendation, acting CJ Azhar Saleem Babar constituted a division bench to hear the case, which consisted of himself and Justice Sadaqat Raja.

On July 8, former CJ’s sibling advocate Chaudhry Zafar appeared before the bench and sought some time for submission of the power of attorney on behalf of his brother (private respondent).

The request was granted by the bench with a renewed direction to all respondents to submit their comments by July 21 (Tuesday).

However, on Tuesday, advocate Chaudhry Shoukat Aziz, one of the counsel for Mr Zia, placed an application before the bench whereby his client had expressed distrust and no-confidence in bench members.

In the application, Mr Zia maintained that since he, as apex court CJ, had initiated proceedings of supreme judicial council against Justice Babar, he suspected the impartiality of the latter in this case.

When the bench asked Mr Aziz as to why the application did not carry former CJ’s signature, he could not give a plausible reply.

Advocate Naqvi, one of the petitioners in person, opposed the plea, maintaining that it was aimed at procrastinating the due process of law and justice.

On this, the bench observed that judges were under an oath to take decisions in accordance with the law and Constitution and therefore the application lacked grounds to be entertained.

Turning down the application, the bench fixed July 29 for arguments.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2020