The federal government on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict in the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court quashed the presidential reference against Justice Isa, terming it “invalid”.

Shortly after the Supreme Court verdict came out, Prime Minister Imran Khan was quoted as saying the government was satisfied with the court verdict. According to the sources, the prime minister told his team not to issue negative statements about the court verdict.

Talking to the media on Friday evening, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said the government was just supposed to inform the Supreme Judicial Council about the properties the judge’s family owned abroad and it fulfilled its constitutional duty. He said the government believed in independence of judiciary and that only the Supreme Court and the Supreme Judicial Council were the competent authorities to take up any issue involving judges.

Shahzad said the verdict should not be portrayed as victory of one party and defeat of the other; it’s a process, which takes place in democratic societies and constitutional scheme of things. He denied the allegations that the presidential reference was mala fide. He said the government holds the judiciary in high esteem. He said it was Supreme Judicial Council and Supreme Court’s job to decide the judicial matters.

The PM aide said the Supreme Court in the short order in this case had directed the Inland Revenue Commissioner to send a notice to the judge's wife and children within seven days, asking them to explanation the nature and source of funding for three properties in their names in the United Kingdom. He said the commissioner would complete the investigation within 60 days and issue an order within 15 days of completion of the investigation.

He said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had also been directed to submit a report to the SC registrar within seven days of the commissioner’s order. The registrar will then present the report to the chairman of the SJC (the chief justice of Pakistan) who will decide when to present it in the council, he said.