ISLAMABAD: Less than a week after taking oath as the chief justice of Pakistan, Justice Qazi Faez Isa has fixed for hearing a petition filed against the judgement of the Supreme Court in Faizabad dharna (sit-in) which he had authored back in 2019.
In November 2017, a religious outfit called Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) staged a sit-in at Faizabad, Islamabad, for over three weeks against an alleged change to the oath of government functionaries.
The sit-in was called off after an agreement signed with the federal government under which among other concessions the then federal law minister Zahid Hamid resigned from his post.
Besides inconvenience to the public, the public exchequer faced losses worth millions of rupees as the protesters damaged public property.
The Supreme Court took suo motu notice and a two-member bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Qazi Faez Isa heard the case and reserved its verdict on Nov 22.
“The State must always act impartially and fairly. The law is applicable to all, including those who are in government and institutions must act independently of those in government.”
“When the State failed to prosecute those at the highest echelons of government who were responsible for the murder and attempted murder of peaceful citizens on the streets of Karachi on 12th May, 2007 it set a bad precedent and encouraged others to resort to violence to achieve their agendas.”
“A person issuing an edict or fatwa, which harms another or puts another in harm’s way, must be criminally prosecuted under the Pakistan Penal Code, the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and/or the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.”
The judgement directed all the intelligence agencies to not exceed their respective mandates.
“They cannot curtail the freedom of speech and expression and do not have the authority to interfere with broadcasts and publications, in the management of broadcasters/publishers and in the distribution of newspapers.”
“Intelligence agencies should monitor activities of all those who threaten the territorial integrity of the country and all those who undermine the security of the people and the State by resorting to or inciting violence,” added the ruling.
“The government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Defence and the respective Chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force are directed to initiate action against the personnel under their command who are found to have violated their oath.’
“We direct the Federal and provincial governments to monitor those advocating hate, extremism and terrorism and prosecute the perpetrators in accordance with the law.”
The ministry of interior, AML chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and others had later filed a petition in the court for review of the judgement which was never taken up.
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