ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa today gave another chance to the petitioners of the Faizabad sit-in case to submit facts surrounding the case.
In a written order issued today, the CJP said that the petitioners can submit their statements in the form of an affidavit.
Chief Justice regretted that the Supreme Court’s order issued four years ago in the Faizabad ‘dharna’ case had yet not been implemented.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa adjourned the hearing of the case till Nov 1, 2023.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court (SC) adjourned the hearing of petitions seeking a review of its 2019 verdict on the Faizabad sit-in till November 1.
During the previous hearing, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa noted that the petitioners appeared scared in this case.
He also said that the court would examine the live broadcasting of the hearing of this case. The next hearing is scheduled for Nov 1, 2023.
Chief Justice of Pakistan talked about the possibility of live transmission of this case.
Notably, the Ministry of Defence, the Intelligence Bureau, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), and the Election Commission of Pakistan sought withdrawal of their petitions in this case.
A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the case. It involved pleas challenging the SC’s Faizabad sit-in verdict. Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) organized ‘dharna’ in 2017 against the then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
During the hearing, Barrister Ali Zafar, the lawyer for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, expressed his client’s desire to withdraw the review petition. Despite being asked multiple times, Ali Zafar stated that they did not wish to pursue the review based on their client’s instructions.
CJP Justice Qazi Faez Isa noted that objections had been raised to the 2019 verdict, and now everyone was seeking withdrawal, emphasizing the importance of not causing harm to institutions.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Awan also informed the court that the federal government wanted to withdraw its review petition. When asked by the CJP if there was a specific reason for this, the AGP replied, “There is no specific reason. We only want to withdraw the review petition. The federal government does not wish to defend the case.”
The CJP mentioned that the court would keep the petition from PEMRA pending to ensure that no one could claim they were not heard in the future.
Sheikh Rasheed’s lawyer indicated his intent to continue with the review plea.
Faizabad Verdict
On February 6, 2019, the Supreme Court issued a written verdict in a suo-moto case concerning the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) 2017 Faizabad sit-in.
The apex court ordered action against extremist elements involved in the protest, who paralyzed traffic on Islamabad’s Faizabad Interchange in November 2017. The protest had erupted over a minor change in the oath lawmakers take regarding the Finality of Prophet-hood (Khatm-e-Nabuwwat).
The government later withdrew the controversial amendment, which had sparked widespread unrest among religious groups in the country.
