Qazi Faez Isa reference: Fawad Chaudhry asks Farogh Naseem to take responsibility

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that the former law minister Farogh Naseem should take responsibility for filing the Qazi Faez Esa reference, ARY News reported.

In a Twitter message, Fawad Chaudhry reacted to Farogh Naseem’s statement and said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader should take responsibility for Qazi Faez Esa reference as he was the law minister at that time.

The PTI leader claimed that it is a reality that Naseem has raised the issue. “I had apprised the then federal cabinet that it was not the responsibility of the government to file reference against judges.”

He added, “I’d told to refer the matter to the bar association if any evidence is available.” Fawad claimed that the PTI government had forwarded the reference on the insistence of Farogh Naseem.

بطور لاء منسٹر آپ کو ذمہ داری لینی چاہئے، حقیقت یہ ہے کہ تمام معاملہ آپ نے کھڑا کیا میں نے کابینہ میں کہا ججز کیخلاف ریفرینس بھیجنا حکومت کا کام نہیں اگر الزامات کے ثبوت ہیں تو بار ایسوسی ریفرنس کر لے لیکن آپ کی آصرار پر ریفرینس بھیجا گیا pic.twitter.com/dvwnyOdHnB

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 18, 2022

The PTI leader’s clarification came after Naseem claimed that former prime minister Imran Khan had insisted to file a reference against Justice Qazi Faez Esa on the basis of evidence collected by the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU).

Farogh Naseem claimed that he wanted to disclose the reality of Justice Esa reference as the summary was a sensitive matter in which every legal aspect was reviewed.

The former law minister said that he has no personal dispute with Justice Esa. “Imran Khan had insisted to file a reference on the basis of ARU’s evidence. The ARU was directly answerable to [former prime minister] Imran Khan.”

Naseem said that he faced several difficulties during his three-year tenure as the law minister. He added that the political situation is already tense and he does not want to add fuel to the fire. He also said that the judiciary was not against Imran Khan.