The presidential reference filed by Alvi, over allegations of undeclared properties of the judge and his wife, was later quashed by the Supreme Court, that declared it a case of mala fide intent.

“Although the preparation and framing of the reference against the petitioner [Justice Isa] is not patently motivated with malice in fact, the scale and degree of the illegalities are such that the reference is deemed to be tainted with mala fide in law,” the apex court had said in its order.

While the reference was quashed, the court had ordered the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to look into the judge’s tax returns. Justice Isa had then filed a petition seeking review of the decision, and during its hearing, he stated that the then government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wanted to remove him over his verdict in the Faizabad protest case.

In the Faizabad protest judgement issued in 2018, Justice Isa had questioned the role of intelligence agencies including Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in encouraging extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) for its violent protest in Islamabad against the then government.

He had criticised the Director General Rangers’ act of handing out cash to workers of the TLP after their violent protest, that had continued for over 20 days and brought the capital to a standstill, ended following an agreement with the government.

“TLP’s dharna participants received cash handouts from men in uniform, the perception of their involvement gained traction.

The Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has also taken to commenting on political matters: “History will prove the 2018 general elections were transparent.”

The armed forces, and all agencies manned by the personnel of the armed forces, including ISI, Military Intelligence (MI) and ISPR serve Pakistan, and thus all its citizens.

They must never be perceived to support a particular political party, faction or politician.

If any personnel of the armed forces indulges in any form of politicking or tries to manipulate the media he undermines the integrity and professionalism of the armed forces,” Justice Isa had noted in the Faizabad judgement.

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Justice Isa expressed these views in a 30-page statement issued in Urdu. He attached with the statement earlier notes and orders in this regard. This is the same statement that the judge read out in the open court on Thursday when he stated that the nine-judge bench, in which he was included, was not a properly constituted court. Following the statement, Justice Isa had announced that he would not sit on the bench, but he was not recusing.

Referring to his May 19 appointment as head of the three-member judicial commission to probe audio leaks, he noted that a bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the chief justice, had halted the proceedings of this commission. The case was again taken up on May 31, but later postponed for an indefinite period.

According to Justice Isa, he had been put into a quandary from which he could only escape when the petitions against the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure law were resolved, or at least the stay granted against the enforcement of the law was removed.

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