At least two fresh moves by the two most senior judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan appears to have deepened the crisis at the country’s top court.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial has fixed the matter of a reference against puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa for a hearing on Monday.

And Justice Faez Isa has questioned the constitution of a six-member bench by CJP Bandial, declaring it against the law. His note was taken down from the Supreme Court of Pakistan website shortly after it was released there.

In a related development, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council has called on CJP Bandial to step down. The Supreme Court Bar Association president and other senior members expressed the support of the top judge in a statement, but another 10 members of the SCBA executive bar issued a statement to say that they did not agree with the statement.

Meanwhile, the PTI has moved the top court to reverse the acquittal of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif in accountability references.

Reference against Justice Isa

A curative review reference against Justice Isa was filed when Imran Khan was in power. Back then, the Supreme Court threw out a reference against Justice Isa and his family and the Khan government filed the curative review reference in 2021.

Khan was ousted in April 2022, but the Shehbaz Sharif administration forget to withdraw the reference against Justice Faez and only jumped to action last week when it announced that the reference would be withdrawn because it was “a revenge action by Imran Niazi, a vindictive person, against a fair-minded judge who followed the path of the Constitution and the law.”

It moved a petition to withdraw the curative review reference.

On Saturday, the CJP fixed the Shehbaz government petition for an in-chamber hearing on April 10.

He has also set another related matter for hearing on the same day.

When the Khan government filed the curative review in 2021, the top court raised some objections against it and the government filed an appeal against the objection. CJP Bandial will also hear that appeal on Monday when he conducts the in-camera hearing.

The decision comes only a few days after the CJP formed a six-member bench to reverse a judgment given by Justice Isa against excessive use of suo motu powers.

The bench – under Justice Ijazul Ahsan and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazahar, Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi — was formed on Tuesday and it recalled the judgment against suo motu powers after a short hearing held on the same day.

Justice Isa questions the six-member bench

The six-member bench reversed the judgment by holding a hearing of the case that was originally heard by Justice Isa and Justice Aminuddin Khan.

Justice Faez Isa on Saturday released a note in the same case and declared that the formation of the six-member bench was illegal and against the constitution.

Justice Isa said that Registrar Ishrat Ali, who issued the roster on Tuesday, April 3, had already been removed by the federal cabinet on April 3 because he had earlier tried to illegally reverse the judgment passed by Justice Isa and Justice Aminuddin about suo motu powers.

The note by Justice Isa says that the formation of the six-member bench proved that the circular issued by the registrar on March 29 was illegal.

The note also said that any appeal against a Supreme Court bench could not be heard by another and completely different bench.

Also, the bench ran the business against the norm and failed to issue notices to the party, the note says.

The judgment passed by the six-member bench on April 4 has no constitutional status, it said.

The note said also said that the words “master of the roster” used for the chief justice of Pakistan were not in the constitution.

Note removed from SC website

The note released by Justice Isa was published on the Supreme Cout of Pakistan website supremecourt.gov.pk in Urdu and English on Saturday evening.

But, it was shortly removed from the website without any explanation.

KP Bar Council urges CJP to step down

Another sign of a deepening judicial crisis, the KP Bar Council released a statement on Saturday, urging CJP Bandial to step down as the top judge of the country.

The statement from KP Bar Council Chairman Zar Badshah Khan accused the CJP of showing dictatorial tendencies.

It said a note written by Justice Athar Minallah had made it clear that March 1 judgment on the election in Punjab was a 4-3 judgment against the petition and not a 3-2 in favour of the petition.

The statement used strong words against the CJP and said that a meeting of the bar will be convened on April 12 at the bar council office.

On the other hand, the president and secretary general of the Supreme Court Bar Association on Saturday condemned a reference filed against CJP Bandial.

They said that the reference against CJP Bandial was aimed at delaying election in Punjab and KP and posed a “direct threat to the independence of judiciary.”

They also condemned the resolution passed by the parliament against the SC judgment on holding Punjab election.

Within a few hours after the statement was issued, at least ten executive committee members of the bar issued another statement saying the SCBA president and secretary had expressed a minority view and that the majority did not approve their attempt to attack the supremacy of the parliament.

PTI seeks revival of cases against Shehbaz Sharif

The PTI, meanwhile, filed a petition before the Supreme Court on Saturday seeking the revival of corruption cases against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

They were acquitted by the courts last year and the National Accountability Bureau, the country’s top graft body, decided not to file appeals against the acquittal.

The PTI petition questions the NAB decision and wants the SC to order the accountability body to file appeals.