A full bench of the Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Federation on several petitions challenging the filing of Presidential Reference against the Chief Justice and constitution of Supreme Judicial Council, headed by Acting Chief Justice rather than the 'Chief Justice'.

These petitions have been filed by Dr Farooq Hassan, of 'Save Judiciary Committee', through Abdul Rashid Qureshi, Jamil Akhtar, Barrister Zafrullah Khan and others,

Counsel for the petitioners argued that no reference can be filed against the Chief Justice under Article 209 of the Constitution and only the Chief Justice can chair the Supreme Judicial Council.

They sought declaration of the Court that the reference filed by the President against the Chief Justice on March 9, 2007 as void and ultra vires of the organic law being patently mala fide and proceedings before the Supreme Judicial Council lack in jurisdiction because of its unlawful composition rendering the current process before it as coram non judice. The full bench comprises Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan, Justice Ejaz Chaudhry and Justice Hamid Ali Mirza.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2007