CJP expresses resentment on Faizabad sit-in report
- By Raja Mohsin Ijaz -
- May 06, 2024
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Monday expressed his resentment over the Faizabad sit-in inquiry report.
The Supreme Court resumed hearing of the federal government’s review petition in the dharna case after a special commission, formed to investigate the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) Faizabad sit-in, dispatched its report to the government.
Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, the bench also comprised Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Awan.
At the outset of the hearing, the top judge asked what was new in the report. The committee has recommended laws are present, implementation is needed, he remarked.
“Thank you very much for telling us about implementation.” The CJP asked was TLP was asked to record their statement as he could not see their input in the report.
Expressing his anger over the report, the CJP said that the commission just submitted the report with idioms in it.
He questioned how many times Faiz Hameed was referred to. “It seems that all this was done just to exonerate General Faiz,” he observed. The CJP asked how many times Gen (retd) Faiz was summoned, to which, the AGP said “once”.
AGP Awan said that they had sent a questionnaire to Gen (retd) Faiz and he had sent his answers.
How Rana Sanaullah be held responsible, he was not a bureaucrat, the top judge observed.
The report submitted with the SC is like the stuff of the 5th class with ‘wrong English’.
“May 9 could have been avoided if the Faizabad case verdict of 2019 was implemented.”
Later the hearing was adjourned for an indefinite period.
Read more: Faizabad commission gives ‘clean chit’ to Faiz Hameed
What was in the report?
The commission probing the 2017 Faizabad sit-in termed it the failure of the then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led federal and Punjab governments.
The inquiry commission in its findings revealed that then Punjab government led by Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif – incumbent Prime Minister – did not attempt to stop the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protest in the province.
According to the report, the provincial government allowed free movement of the protesters and also provided security to the gathering.
Read more: Faizabad dharna commission: Shehbaz Sharif’s statement revealed
The report said that the Punjab government was hesitant to take action against the protesters owing to threats to the lives of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Rana Sanaullah and other government officials.
The Punjab government was relieved after the protesters entered Islamabad as the Shehbaz Sharif-led provincial government wanted the centre to deal with the matters related to the Faizabad sit-in.
Faizabad sit-in
Back on November 08, 2017, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) organized a sit-in at Faizabad interchange against the amendments in the Election Bill 2017, changing the word oath to declaration.
The protesters demanded the resignation of then Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid to “protect the identity of the country”.
As a result of the protest, the then PML-N government had to sack its law minister Zahid Hamid. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the sit-in on November 21, 2017.
Later, a division bench led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on February 6, 2019, unveiled its verdict in the sit-in case, criticizing the role of intelligence agencies in the saga.
Soon after assuming office of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) in September this year, Justice Isa listed for hearing the petitions that had been filed against the SC’s February 2019 verdict.
On Nov 1, the bench rejected the fact-finding committee formed by the government to investigate the matter and ordered it to form a commission of inquiry to unveil the mastermind behind the sit-in.