Justice Qazi Faez Isa has written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial raising reservations over the apex court’s decision to merge two petitions, namely the Supreme Court Bar Association’s petition regarding the execution of the no-confidence motion and the presidential reference seeking the top court’s opinion on Article 63-A.

The SCBA petition had sought the Supreme Court’s intervention for the peaceful execution of the no-trust vote in the National Assembly against Prime Minister Imran Khan and to prevent a likely clash between the workers of the opposition and the government ahead of the motion in the federal capital.

Meanwhile, on behalf of President Dr Arif Alvi, the attorney general of Pakistan submitted a presidential reference seeking the top court’s interpretation on Article 63-A of the constitution related to the defection of lawmakers.

He also raised concerns over merging the two cases which have different outcomes: In the SCBA petition, the Supreme Court will have to give an “order”, while the apex court will have to give its “opinion” in the presidential reference. “It cannot do both simultaneously.”

In the letter, Justice Isa noted that during the hearing of the SCBA petition on March 19 conducted by CJP Bandial and Justice Munib Akhtar, the apex court ordered that the presidential reference would be heard together with the SCBA petition. “I am perplexed as to how a matter which had not been filed was ordered to be fixed for hearing.”

Justice Isa also highlighted how judges that rank 4th, 8th and 13th on the seniority list were included on the bench, with the letter reading “by discarding a good practice of a predecessor of yours, who had structured the chief justice’s discretion by constituting benches comprising of the senior-most judges when cases involving important constitutional questions were to be heard.”

He also raised objection on the registrar of the Supreme Court who had been “imported” from the Prime Minister’s secretariat as “he determines which cases are fixed, when and before whom, and which are to be forgotten”. In Justice Isa’s view, the registrar’s “appointment is in clear violation of the Constitution, which mandates the complete independence of the judiciary and its separation from the Executive”.

In the letter, Justice Isa mentioned that he “thought twice before writing" it. “Being the most senior judge of the Supreme Court and with seniority comes responsibility, which must not be shirked.” He added that every predecessor of Justice Bandial “consulted the most senior judge”. However, “the established practice has been discarded, which may have adverse attendant consequences for the institution.”

Copies of the letter were sent to judges of the apex court, the president, the Attorney General of Pakistan, the attorney generals of all provinces and Islamabad, SCBA president, and the SC registrar.