ISLAMABAD - A 10-member larger bench of the Supreme Court will today conduct hearing of review petitions of Justice Qazi Faez Isa and others against the Presidential Reference.

A six-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial on February 22 had announced its reserved judgment with the 5-1 majority on the composition of the bench for hearing the review petitions while Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik had disagreed.

The bench had referred the matter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahamd for constituting the larger bench.

Then, Justice Gulzar Ahmed constituted the 10-member bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan.

The petitioners have been directed to file six more set of paper-books along with each and every documents filed by them in the review petitions within two days.

President Arif Alvi had filed the reference against Justice Faez. It was alleged in the reference that Justice Qazi Faez he had acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015 but did not disclose them in his wealth returns. Justice Isa contested the allegation, saying he was not a beneficial owner of the flats — either directly or indirectly.

In June 2020, the Supreme Court threw out the reference terming it “invalid”. “[The reference] is declared to be of no legal effect whatsoever and stands quashed,” read the majority (5-1) short verdict on a petition filed by Justice Isa and others seeking the reference’s dismissal.

However, seven of the 10 judges on the bench hearing the case ordered the Inland Revenue Department and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to seek explanations from the judge’s wife and children on the nature and source of funding for three properties in their names in the United Kingdom and submit a report to the SC registrar.

A seven-judge bench was constituted to hear the petitions but after the retirement of Justice Faisal Arab a six-member bench heard the petitions.