SC to take up review pleas challenging Faizabad sit-in verdict

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will hear review petitions, challenging its 2019 verdict in the Faizabad sit-in case, on September 28.

The Faizabad sit-in verdict, written by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who was a Supreme Court judge then, had instructed intelligence agencies to strictly adhere to their constitutional mandates and criticised the role of the military and the government in handling the protest.

The protest was staged by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline religious group, in Rawalpindi’s Faizabad area in November 2017, demanding the resignation of the then law minister over a perceived blasphemy issue.

The sit-in had paralysed the twin cities for over two weeks and ended after an agreement between the TLP and the government, brokered by the military.

The verdict had also questioned the legality of a 2014 sit-in organised by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), two opposition parties at the time, against alleged rigging in the 2013 general election.

The review petition was filed by the country’s primary intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the interior ministry and others in April 2019, contending that the verdict could have a detrimental impact on the morale of the armed forces.

The PTI, which came to power in 2018, also submitted a petition on April 16, 2019, seeking a review of the verdict and requesting the Supreme Court to remove certain remarks pertaining to its 2014 sit-in.

The chief justice has formed a three-member bench to hear the review petition. The bench comprises Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Athar Minallah.