ISLAMABAD: Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, a former judge of the Islamabad High Court, on Thursday named a number of retired army generals, as well as some former judges, as parties in the case against his removal.
Senior counsel Hamid Khan, on behalf of the ex-judge, moved an amended application before the Supreme Court to name as respondents in his petition former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, former director general of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Faiz Hamid, three retired brigadiers — Irfan Ramay, Faisal Marwat and Tahir Wafai — as well as a former chief justice of the IHC, Anwar Khan Kasi, and a former registrar of the Supreme Court, Arbab Muhammad Arif.
“During the course of proceedings on Dec 14, it has been pointed out that allegations made in the speech and the replies by Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui implicate, directly or indirectly, certain former officers of the Pakistan Army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and it is just and proper that they be personally impleaded in the instant petition so as to allow them an opportunity of hearing regarding the said allegations prior to any order that may be passed that may directly or indirectly affect them,” the application said, while referrimg to the Supreme Court proceedings.
The amended applications were filed on behalf of Mr Siddiqui and senior counsel Salahuddin Ahmed, representing the Islamabad High Court Bar Association and the Karachi Bar Association.
These applications will now be presented before a five-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, on Friday to issue notices to the freshly made respondents.
The new list of respondents was submitted to the Supreme Court after the CJP asked the counsel to make these individuals parties to the case.
Otherwise, the CJP said, the court will not hear a single allegation against them.
The CJP observed that it was wrong to malign institutions since no institution was bad.
“Individuals running such establishments should be blamed instead,” he stressed.
The Supreme Court was seized with an appeal moved by Mr Siddiqui against an opinion of the Supreme Judicial Council, and an Oct 11, 2018, notification under which he was removed as a superior court judge for a speech he delivered at the District Bar Association, Rawalpindi, on July 21 of that year.
Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2023
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