Justice Isa seeks live telecast of hearings on review petitions

ISLAMABAD: As the Supreme Court is all set to commence hearing of review petitions in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case from March 1, the judge filed an application seeking a directive that the Pakistan Television Corporation be directed to broadcast live proceedings of the hearings.

A 10-judge bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Jusitce Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan will start hearing of a set of review petitions in the Justice Isa case. In the application, Justice Isa pleaded that the apex court should order the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to issue written instructions to all private channels that they could not be restrained from broadcasting the court proceedings or live streaming of the proceedings.

Justice Isa said that the prayer had been made in the best interest of justice and that court proceedings were broadcast in a number of countries. Argues it will correct public perception as a false propaganda campaign was launched against him.

He regretted that immediately after the president sent the reference against him to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), its contents were broadcast on television and published in the newspapers besides an unrelenting false propaganda campaign was launched against him by accusing him of not complying with the Income Tax Ordinance 2001, not paying income tax, possessing unaccounted for wealth and buying properties abroad in the names of his wife and children.

He said he had expected that the SJC or the chief justice, who was the chairman of the council, would stop public humiliation of a brother judge but, much to his dismay, that did not happen and the council contributed to his defamation.