Who filed the reference?
 

ISLAMABAD: It is interesting to find that Law Minister Farogh Naseem distances himself from having initiated the case against the reputed Supreme Court Judges Qazi Faez Isa and holds that the “complaint” against the judge was received from Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) of the government.However, the ARU spokesman, when contacted on Friday by this correspondent, categorically stated that the Unit is not a complainant in this matter.The spokesman said, “ARU is not complainant in the matter, it simply referred the matter to law minister as under the Constitution, any such matter comes exclusively under the jurisdiction of the SJC (Supreme Judicial Council).”The Law Ministry said, “Law Ministry on its own has no mechanism to look into the assets of any judge. The ministry is bound to process complaints it receives from the Asset Recovery Unit and Federal Board of Revenue in the best interest of the country.”The Law Ministry referred to the “complaint” it received from ARU, which said the Unit is not a complainant in this matter.The News story was based on the background interaction with two federal ministers. One of the ministers had clearly said that the president was unhappy with the language of the reference and thus had modified it.The minister had also said that Law Minister Farogh Naseem was behind the reference. This correspondent had tried to contact Farogh Naseem on Thursday for his version before filing the story in question but he did not pick up the call. Additionally, The News quoted media report (of Express Tribune of 28th May) which too said that the reference was prepared within the ministry and that services of a former Supreme Court judge -- who had taken oath under November 3, 2007 Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) -- were hired to file the reference. One of the ministers’ source, when approached on Friday and informed about the clarification, laughed at the Law Ministry clarification and said the journalist should trust his source. Presidency’s clarification did not comment on President Arif Alvi’s view on the reference, which according to The News story was sent to the SJC by the president who was bound to act on the advice of the prime minister.Senior journalist Nasim Zehra in a tweet on Thursday while citing some old tweets of President Alvi and Dr Shireen Mazari speaking about the integrity of Justice Isa, asked, “I hope @ShireenMazari1 you will ask the @ArifAlvi what he is doing now.”Responding to Zehra’s tweet, federal minister Dr Mazari tweeted, “What do you think Nasim?!! Silence on Twitter does not imply going into silence mode all around!”. Dr Mazari’s tweet is also the endorsement of The News story.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/46QNC_vxIT8

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