ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Thursday hinted at withdrawing the infamous ‘curative review petition’, which his predecessor had moved before the Supreme Court against Justice Qazi Faez Isa, a sitting judge of the apex court.

The law minister also assured the bar representatives that he would personally talk to the PM for taking back the curative review by placing the matter on the agenda of the cabinet during the next meeting.

The law minister came to the Supreme Court building to inaugurate the Directorate of Legal Education at the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) office in line with an earlier directive in an SC judgment highlighting the need for improving the standard and quality of legal education in the country.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the law ministry and the PBC in this regard and Usama Malik and Saqib Faraz were appointed director and deputy director, respectively, of the directorate.

During the inauguration of the directorate, SCBA president Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon and PBC vice chairman Hafeezur Rehman Chaudhry had asked the law minister to withdraw the curative review petition to ensure independence of the judiciary, and also take measures for early fixing of an appeal challenging the LHC’s Jan 13, 2020 order that declared as illegal a special court’s Dec 17, 2019 verdict awarding capital punishment to former president Pervez Musharraf for committing high treason.

The law minister said the present government wanted to facilitate the return of ailing Pervez Musharraf to the country, adding that the former president should come to Pakistan and face courts.

Referring to the curative review petition, the law minister said he would raise the issue during the next cabinet meeting so that it could be withdrawn from the Supreme Court. He said he would also highlight the issue of appointment of a permanent secretary law.

Through the unheard of legal remedy, the previous PTI government had pleaded before the Supreme Court that its April 26, 2021 majority judgement in the Justice Faez Isa review case should not be left in the field for being manifestly and patently unjust, against the public interest and public good which defeats the judicial accountability.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2022