By Khalid Hussain
Commotion broke out in the full court of the Supreme Court as it resumed hearing on Supreme Court judge Qazi Faez Isa’s petition on the presidential reference against him to the Supreme Judicial Council on Monday.
At the outset of hearing, a Lahore based advocate Ajmal Mahmood quickly occupied the rostrum as the judges took their seats and loudly demanded Chair of the full court Justice Umar Atta Bandial recuse himself on the grounds that a reference against Justice Bandial was pending in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
A full 10-member bench of the top court led by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, comprising Justice Maqbool Baqir, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Ameen Ahmed is hearing Justice Isa’s petition.
Using impudent language and addressing the full court in a loud jeering voice, Ajmal Mahmood insisted the honourable judge was not competent to sit on the full bench on the given grounds.
Justice Bandial kept his cool and politely told Ajmal the full court was not an appropriate forum to make such a demand saying he should approach the right forum for redressal of his grievance.
However, the advocate continued to loudly demand while leaving the court room saying, “this man cannot sit here”. He alleged the judge was dishonest and corrupt.
His scornful yelling invited censure by two judges who admonished him saying, “you are exposing yourself to contempt of court”. The advocate refused to desist. This prompted a member of the bench Justice Maqbool Baqir to say, “we will issue you a contempt notice”.
This did not deter the advocate who loudly challenged the full court to issue him a contempt notice. “I want you to send me to jail”, he said.
The court however refused to be baited into aggression. Senior lawyers in the court room managed to convince the advocate to leave the rostrum and keep quite.
Outside the Supreme Court, he was interviewed by the media. Talking to TLTP he said he has filed a reference against Justice Umer Atta Bandial and Justice Ejaz-ul-Hassan for alleged dishonesty and impropriety.
According to details he filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) to investigate the corruption of A National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Director Mirza Sultan Mohammad who owns a University and many buildings in Lahore. The LHC dismissed the petition and be moved an appeal against the impugned order at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
This appeal, he alleged, was dismissed by Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Ejaz-ul-Hassan without even hearing him. “There was corruption worth tens of billions rupees and the judges acted arbitrarily”, he alleged.
The court room drama earned him a lot of attention not only by the media but also by members of Supreme Court Bar Association as he was requested to join the members in the bar room for tea as many wanted to meet him and learn the details of his reference against the two Supreme Court Judges.
