ISLAMABAD: Following the filing of Presidential reference to Supreme Judicial Council against respected Justice Qazi Faez Isa, this correspondent got information from different sources about what they call “frequent secret” meetings of Law Minister Farogh Nasim with a top constitutional office holder.On Saturday, an informed government source, on condition of not being named, confirmed that a few meetings did take place between the law minister and the constitutional office holder. The source insisted that the purpose of these meetings have been to discuss “legislation” and nothing else. These meetings, however, were never announced for the media.The government source appeared upset over this correspondent’s reporting on the issue during the recent days, and claimed that there was no ill-motive involved behind the filing of the reference against Justice Isa.The government source claimed that Justice Isa’s wife was served multiple notices by the FBR in respect to the disclosures of properties discovered by Barrister Shahzad Akbar led Asset Recovery Unit. The source said that no response to these notices was received by the FBR.To a question, the government source said that the FBR claimed to have issued one notice to Justice Isa as well but the law ministry was not fully satisfied whether it was served properly or not.Denying that Justice Isa is being targeted because of latent pressures, the government source said that it was Shahzad Akbar’s Asset Recovery Unit which got the information about the foreign assets of Justice Isa’s wife.The source added that the information was shared with the Prime Minister Imran Khan besides engaging FIA and FBR to ascertain the facts about these properties. The Law Ministry and ARU worked closely for several weeks and got certified copies of the foreign properties. “We asked FBR to go through the tax returns of the Judge to see if the foreign assets were declared or not,” the government source said, adding that the FBR found that the properties were not declared.The government source insisted that in view of the information collected by the Asset Recovery Unit and referred to the Law Ministry, which held a detailed probe to ascertain the facts, there was no option left but to refer the case to the Supreme Judicial Council.The government source said that if with all the information available, the government had decided to shelve the file and not refer it to the SJC then the media would have raised hue and cry and had alleged the government of turning blind eye to a case against a sitting judge.Independent sources, however, insist that the facts of the case will become only clear when Justice Isa will speak on the issue. So far there is no version from the respected Judge’s side available with the media except some unconfirmed reports that Justice Isa’s spouse was a foreigner and not financial dependent on her husband.Senior SC Lawyer Salman Akram Raja in a recent tweet said, “Wealth statement required of a person mandates disclosure of assets held by a spouse only if these were obtained through funds provided by that person & are held as benami assets. Assets purchased by a spouse in her own right are to be disclosed only in her wealth statement.”It is not clear as yet if Justice Isa’s spouse is a tax resident under Pakistani tax laws or not.Official sources have reiterated that how could the government conspire against the judiciary when the decision of the reference rests with the judiciary. The sources said the case cannot be compared with the Iftikhar Chaudhry reference as in that case he was made dysfunctional and was asked to resign. The sources said that the current reference has been sent according to the Constitution.
from The News International - National http://bit.ly/313iJQ4
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