The roller coaster ride of the hearing of the case of the Presidential reference against Honourable Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa, came to a halt yesterday. The short order issued by the ten-member bench of the Honourable Supreme Court unanimously quashed the Presidential reference. Included in the short order was the instruction that the case may be referred to FBR, by a majority of seven to three. In addition, FBR has been timebound to submit its report.
While the short order has set the direction, the full judgement will make clear whether additional points will be made. There may be details mentioned in the full judgement, which will explain the background and rationale of the decision.
It is also clear from the text of the short order that the presidential reference may not be going forward, but the subject is far from closed. After two months will be the FBR response. After two weeks is expected the full judgement. After the full judgement may be expected a possible appeal, should any of the parties involved decide to file one. We may yet see many more developments over the course of the next few months.
It is historic that a sitting Honourable Supreme Court Justice has himself appeared in a courtroom to speak about a case in which he is being discussed. It will go down as historic, and so will the short order. With the FBR giving its report to the Supreme Judicial Council 60 days after the short order, the Supreme Judicial Council will review the report and its outcome.
The Government has expressed its satisfaction on the short order, and declined to comment much further. That is as it should be. The right to appeal exists for everyone involved. The full judgement is awaited by all.