LAHORE: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Azmatullah Chaudhry on Tuesday distanced himself from the stance taken by its president Amanullah Kanrani on a reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court.

“The views being expressed by the president do not represent the whole bar,” Mr Chaudhry told a press conference held at the Lahore Press Club.

The SCBA vice president on Punjab seat Malik Karamat Awan, four members of the bar’s executive committee -- Liaqat Ali Tareen, Yousaf Mughal, Samina Durrani and Javed Chaudhry -- were also present at the media briefing.

The secretary stated that matter of the reference against judges had not been discussed so far in any meeting of the bar’s executive committee.

He said Mr Kanrani had been giving an impression that the decision to observe protest against the Supreme Judicial Council’s proceedings was result of a consensus.

He said the country was passing through an “era of accountability” and nobody was above the law.

He said there might be no accountability in future if the ongoing process was jeopardised.

Mr Chaudhry said Justice Isa was equally respectable for the whole legal fraternity, however, the matter of the reference against him was sub-judice before the council, which was a constitutional forum.

He called for early disposal of all references pending before the SJC.

The secretary claimed that some people had been agitating the matter out of context for personal interests only. He said the language being used by Mr Kanrani against the judges sitting in the SJC was contemptuous.

The secretary belongs to the Independent Group, commonly known as late Asma Jahangir group, while the president is affiliated to Hamid Khan-led Professional Group.

A group of senior lawyers will also hold a press conference on Wednesday (today) at the Supreme Court Lahore registry on the same issue.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2019