ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday approached the Supreme Court requesting Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa not to head any bench that takes up matters involving him, his wife or any family member, the PTI or the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

In an application before the three-judge committee constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, namely CJP, senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Imran Khan said he had expected that on assumption of high office of the CJP, the past (filing of a reference against Justice Isa by the PTI government over properties in Britain) would fade away.

“But this has not happened,” the application said. “The alleged conduct and demeanour of the CJP while hearing matters in which the applicant (Imran Khan), the PTI and members of SIC have an interest, have led him to believe that his lordship’s (CJP) presence in benches hearing matters in which the applicant, his spouse and family members were involved, will be inimical to the confidence of a large part of the people of Pakistan in the impartiality of the judicial process.”

The applicant does not believe that he, his spouse and family, the PTI, its members and SIC will be fairly dealt with in accordance with the law and the Constitution by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in any matter presently pending before the court or any matter that may come up in future, Imran Khan said.

‘Grand meeting’

A citizen, Qazi Muhammad Saleem, has moved a petition before the Supreme Court requesting it to take suo motu notice and host a “grand meeting” featuring former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, as well as former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto, by acting as a “constitutional guide” to help them work out a national plan to get the country out of the current crisis.

Arshad Sharif case

The Supreme Court will resume hearing on the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya on July 29. The bench will consist of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Naeem Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2024