PTI founder says CJP should not hear cases involving him

 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder and former prime minister Imran Khan has written to the Supreme Court of Pakistan seeking Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s recusal from his cases.

Imran Khan said, in his application submitted to the apex court, that in order to uphold the principle of unbias-ness and impartiality it would be in the interest of justice that Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa should not hear cases involving him.

The former prime minister made the request referring to a previous Supreme Court order.

Imran Khan’s submission comes as the apex court, last month, reserved its verdict on the federal and provincial governments’ pleas challenging it’s September 15 majority 2-1 verdict that was announced by a bench led by former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement government had earlier made amendments in 2022 to the National Accountability (NAB) Ordinance which were challenged by the PTI founder Khan in the apex court.

The move comes as the Imran Khan shares a rather contentious history with Chief Justice Isa as it was his government that had filed a presidential reference against the incumbent chief justice in 2019 for allegedly owning properties abroad under his wife and children’s names and not mentioning them in his wealth statement.