After differences emerge among Supreme Court judges, a visible divide and difference also emerged in Islamabad High Court as well.

An unprecedented drama was unfolded Wednesday at the Islamabad High Court (IHC over the Tyrian White case against former prime minister Imran Khan when the majority judgment of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Arbab Tahir dismissing the petition was deleted from the court’s website minutes after it was uploaded.

Not long after the majority judgment was deleted from the court’s website, a press release was issued by the court, stating that the “opinion” of the two judges did not constitute judgment of the court and is against court rules and norms.

It said the opinion of the judges was released without the issuance of a cause list or intimation to the parties and their counsels. It further said that the signature of Chief Justice Farooq, who is the third member of the bench, was also missing from it.

It said that the chief justice has reconstituted the bench for rehearing the case, adding that action is also being taken against those responsible for uploading the opinion without the issuance of a cause list.

The judgment

The majority judgment, authored by Justice Kayani and assented to by Justice Tahir stated that the writ petition was “not maintainable from the very inception”.

It also deprecated the petitioner’s conduct in filing the petition, noting that “the petitioner should have been mindful of the fact that the court is not a tool to be used by surrogates motivated for extraneous consideration.”

In the judgment uploaded to the court’s website, Justice Kayani had appended two “office notes”. The first note, dated May 2, said that “a draft judgment” was received from Chief Justice Farooq, to which he did not assent. Consequently, Justice Kayani said, a separate verdict was authored by him which was concurred to by Justice Tahir and was submitted for announcement by May 3.

In the second note, dated May 9, Justice Kayani said that the majority judgment was “transmitted” to the chief justice along with a note to list the case for announcement on May 3.

Despite that, JusticeKayani noted, the case has not been listed to date, adding that “speculations were widely shared on social media regarding [the] judgment”.

He directed the registrar to “release the judgment of two members bench today i.e. 09.05.2023 by all means and submit a compliance report forthwith”, saying that any further delay in releasing the judgment “could cause aspersion on the outcome of the case and impugn the confidentiality andTyrian White  integrity of the court process and public from the independence of the court”.

Tyrian White Case

A three-judge larger bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir had reserved its verdict on April 30 on the petition seeking Imran’s disqualification for concealing his alleged daughter Tyrian White in his nomination forms submitted to contest the 2018 general election.

The petitioner had alleged that the former premier had not disclosed his alleged daughter Tyrian in his nomination papers.

In his petition, a citizen Mohammad Sajid said that Khan provided incorrect information while submitting his nomination papers for the general elections held in 2018.

The petitioner also said that even though the former prime minister has three children, he had mentioned only two in the papers and concealed the existence of his third child.

The petitioner’s lawyers argued that the PTI chief did not declare Tyrian as his daughter in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) due to which he cannot hold the position of party chairman.

The petitioner had alleged that the former premier did not marry his alleged girlfriend Sita White, mother of Tyrian, because her father told Khan that he would not get a “penny” from his wealth if he married Sita.

The petition, titled “Imran versus Imran — the untold story”, also claimed that the custody of Tyrian was given to Jemima, the former wife of Khan.

It added that Sita in her will of Feb 27, 2004, had nominated Jemima as guardian of her daughter Tyrian. Sita died that year on May 13.

“Jemima Goldsmith had been the spouse of Imran Khan (1995-2004)."

“The concealed facts stood confirmed by a judgement of paternity rendered by a superior court in California in favour of Sita White where it was held that the respondent (Imran Khan) was the father of Tyrian Jade.”

The PTI chief initially joined the proceedings but later backtracked after he was asked to undergo a blood test, it added.