Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has said that he was issued death threats by a cleric who incited violence against him and his family members during a show on Youtube, and the police had initially refused to register an FIR for five days.
Justice Isa suggested that it was a reaction to one of his decisions that the cleric did not approve of. He added that the person incited violence against him and his family.
“I ignored his threats, but my wife took it seriously and went to the police station. The police did not register an FIR for five days,” he said, adding that it was a terrorism case but the authorities did not initially take any action.
The judge expressed these views while addressing a ceremony organised by Punjab Bar Council in Lahore. He thanked the lawyers for praising his principled positions and said that he merely tries to act in accordance with law and the constitution. He added that lawyers should have no ‘face value’ and judges should decide the cases on the basis of merits and demerits as opposed to their personal relationship with the counsel.
Cleric who threatened Justice Isa
In 2020, cleric Agha Iftikharuddin Mirza, who was asked by the Supreme Court to explain why he had issued derogatory remarks against the top court’s judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, had said that he had done so because he ‘speaks nonsense sometimes due to continued use of medicines’.
In July 2020, the Supreme Court rejected the cleric’s apology and issued a contempt notice to him, directing that he may respond within the next seven days and appear personally on the next hearing.
In his response, the cleric had said that he is suffering from heart disease, hypertension and similar diseases. Due to this, he added, he sometimes gets hyper and starts to speak nonsense and things reflective of despair.
Justice Isa’s wife Sarina Isa had filed a case against the cleric over his video in which he had threatened the judge and his family.
