As the Supreme Judicial Council, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, geared up to hear complaints of Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi, the judge himself decided to approach the court against the proceedings.

The judge has asked proceedings against him to be quashed and all notices issued to him to be declared illegal. He has already called the proceedings ‘politically motivated’.

However, details of Justice Naqvi’s petition in the court revealed that he will approach proceedings not just with serious preparation, but will come heavily armed.

The judge has assembled a six-member legal team made up of well-known names for the case.

The petition was filed through Syed Rifaqat Hussain Shah, who will serve as an Advocate on Record. Shah has been a part of major cases including, most recently, former First Lady Bushra Begum in a petition where she expressed a fear for Imran Khan’s well-being in jail.

Shah was also the AoR who filed a petition asking for a larger bench to hear petitions against the presidential reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa in 2020.

Also part of the team is Latif Khosa, a veteran member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, who has recently been representing Imran Khan in multiple cases. In fact, representing Khan even landed him in hot waters with his own party.

On the other end of the political spectrum, Syed Ali Zafar, a sitting senator belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, is also part of the team. Zafar is not only a key member of the PTI but is also a well-known lawyer. He represented PTI in the petition against military courts as well.

The team also includes Khawaja Haris, another well-known lawyer who represented both Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif in corruption cases after their removal from office.

Another member of the team is Makhdoom Ali Khan, another celebrated lawyer who served as attorney general for six years in the Musharraf government and also helped write the PCB constitution. He recently represented the government in the NAB amendment case as well.

The last member of the team is Saad Mumtaz Hashmi, who has also represented the federal government in the NAB amendment case. He also appeared in the Judge Arshad Malik video case.