Qazi Faez Isa
During his tenure as Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa faced significant controversies, including rulings criticised by political and religious groups, allegations of election interference.
[1][13] He strongly dissented in the case of District Bar Association Rawalpindi v Federation of Pakistan, which enabled the trial of civilians by military court.
[17] In the case of Sindh Revenue Board v Civil Aviation Authority, he held that 'neither the Federation nor the provinces should invade upon the rights of the other nor encroach on the other's legislative domain'.
19 of 2016, in which he observed that 'a small clique of persons is put in charge of these massive funds, avoiding established methods of checks and balances and circumventing the prescribed manner of implementing and executing of projects/schemes'.
[20] In the case of Khalid Humayun v NAB, Justice Isa castigated the National Accountability Bureau for entering into a plea bargain with a government servant who was caught red handed with a large amount of cash.
[21] Justice Isa was appointed by the Supreme Court as a single Judge Commission regarding terrorist attacks in Quetta on 8 August 2016 wherein 75 people (a majority of whom were lawyers) were killed.
[23] In the Faizabad dharna judgment,[24] Justice Isa addressed the constitutional right to free movement and the unconstitutional interference of intelligence agencies in Pakistan's political system.
[24] Within the judgment, it was observed that free publicity for extremist parties, and the broadcast of inflammatory speeches had allowed for protests to turn violent and spread across Pakistan.
[25] Censorship of the media was noted as unconstitutional, and it was held that 'no one, including any government, department or intelligence agency can curtail the fundamental right of freedom of speech, expression and press beyond the parameters mentioned in Article 19 of the Constitution.
'[25] Justice Isa held that 'politicking, and manipulation of media undermines the integrity of the armed forces',[25] and that 'perception of ISI's involvement in matters that are not its concern remains'.
[27] Justice Isa held that 'abiding by Islamic jurisprudential principles, applying the constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair trial and due process, and acting prudently to ensure that an innocent is not convicted wrongly in respect of offences relating to religion, when there is only the improbable oral testimony of witnesses, then there must be corroboration'.
[29] In Shah Zaman v Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,[30] Justice Isa addressed the importance of forests in ecological preservation and mitigating the effects of climate change in light of Islamic injunctions.
In it he stated that the Chief Justice should first decide the matter of Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act (2023), which dealt with the constitution of benches and right to appeal, before any other cases could be heard.
[32] In May 2019, 3 months after the release of the Faizabad dharna judgment,[24] the President of Pakistan, on the advice of the Prime Minister, Imran Khan filed a reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
[35] In April 2022, former Prime Minister Imran Khan admitted that the filing of the reference against Justice Isa had been a 'mistake',[36] and that 'relevant officials had misguided his government about the facts of the case'.
[41] In response to a freedom of information request by the Women's Action Forum, Justice Isa was the only judge who published details of all his assets, income, and privileges on the Supreme Court website.
[51] The timing of the verdict ensured that lawmakers disqualified from running for public office under 62(1)(f) in earlier judgements were eligible to contest the upcoming 2024 elections.
[51][52] In November 2023, Isa reconstituted the National Judicial Automation Committee (NJAC), a sub-committee of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC) with the claimed goals to work for digitisation of the court processes and records, introduce mobile applications and improve case management as well as introduce AI in legal processes and research.
[53] On 3 October 2023, Isa conducted hearings on the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, which had been previously blocked from implementation by former Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
Isa added that the report had failed to draw any conclusions and said that the inquiry commission wasted time, asserting that the Faizabad dharna case verdict been implemented, the incident of 9 May would not have happened.
[66] Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) accused CJP Isa of collusion with the government for not allowing the hearing of the NAB amendments case from being broadcast.
[68][3] Chief Justice Isa faced criticism from major religious parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, over his verdict in a case of dissemination of banned Ahmadiyya literature.
[72] On 17 February 2024, Commissioner Rawalpindi, Liaquat Ali Chattha, in a press conference accused Isa to be involved in rigging of General Elections 2024.
[75][76] In March 2024, six serving judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) wrote a letter addressed to CJP Isa, alleging interference by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in judicial matters.
The employee asked the CJP, “Are you Faez Isa?” When he confirms his identity, the staff responds with a derogatory remark, saying, “Lanat ho aap pe (Damn you).” [80] The incident occurred at Islamabad’s Crusteez Donuts.
[86] The move also drew comparisons with CJP Isa's earlier remarks against ordinances as he perceived them as tools for "imposing one man's will on the nation", referring to the fact that they bypass the parliament.
[87] In the first meeting of the committee since the changes made by CJP Isa, the second most senior member, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, left the court without attending it.
