Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on Monday expressed displeasure with the report of the investigation team formed by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) to probe the 2017 Faizabad bypoll. He said the investigating agency seems to be unaware of its responsibilities.
He also said that the May 9 incident could not have happened if the decision to sit in Faizabad had been taken.
The CJP said this when a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court took up a batch of petitions challenging the 2019 verdict in its Faizabad court.
The hearing was broadcast live on the Supreme Court’s website and YouTube channel today, with Justice Isa, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Awan as members of the bench.
The landmark judgement, written by Justice Isa years before the CJP was sworn in, directed the service chief and the Defense Minister to punish officers found to have violated their oath. It also ordered the federal government to monitor and take legal action against those who support terrorism, extremism and hate speech.
Several government departments were found to be disrupting the lives of Muslims in Rawalpindi and Islamabad during the 20-day sit-in, causing public trouble.
Defense Ministry, Intelligence Bureau (IB), PTI, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), AML chief Sheikh Rasheed and Ijazul Haq appealed against the verdict. But many petitioners later backed down and withdrew their petitions.
In an earlier hearing, former Pemra chief Absar Alam revealed details of “press violence” and intelligence interference in the Faizabad party.
Addressing the petition filed in November, the DC said it expects the government to complete the fact-finding in the party by the deadline. It also gave the ECP a month to write and submit a report on the TLP and its funding.
In Monday’s hearing, CJP Isa expressed his displeasure with the report prepared and submitted by the commission.
“I cannot understand at what level this report was prepared. “KKK does not know what responsibility it is,” he said.
