3 SC judges write to CJP over not fixing regular benches jurisdiction case
Supreme Court Registrar admits mistake in fixing regular benches jurisdiction case
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Three Supreme Court (SC) judges namely Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Aqeel Abbasi have written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi on the issue of not fixing the hearing of the case of the jurisdiction of regular benches of the SC on January 20, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.
Quoting its sources, the channel reported that the judges had also written a letter to the head of the constitutional bench, Justice Aminuddin Khan on the matter.
It was stated in the letter that Justice Aqeel Abbasi had been included in the bench on January 16. The judge had already heard the case when he was in the Sindh High Court (SHC).
It was also mentioned that Justice Mansoor had refused to attend the meeting of the Practice & Procedure Committee, which was held on January 17, saying he needed not to attend it, informed the sources, adding that the judges also wrote that not fixing the case for the hearing amounted to the violation of the Judicial Order.
Justice Mansoor had termed the non-compliance with the bench orders ‘contempt of court’.
On January 20, 24News TV channel reported that the apex court had expressed its displeasure over non-compliance with its directive to fix the hearing of the case regarding the jurisdiction of regular benches and had summoned the Additional Registrar SCP to explain his position.
A three-member bench of the SC, headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, had directed the Registrar SCP Office on Thursday, January 16, to fix the hearing of the petitions regarding jurisdictions of the benches after the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The court observed that it was clearly ordered to fix the case regarding jurisdiction of the regular benches before the same bench on Monday, January 20 but the Registrar’s Office did not include it in the cause list for Monday.
Registrar Supreme Court, when summoned, was not available to appear before the court due to some health issue.
The deputy registrar, however, appeared before the court and informed that the Judges Committee (for allocation of cases to various benches) has decided to fix this case before the Constitutional Bench on January 27.
SC Registrar admits mistake in fixing regular benches jurisdiction case
A two-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, on Tuesday heard the contempt of court case against the registrar for not fixing the hearing of the case related to the jurisdiction of benches.
During the hearing, Justice Mansoor asked the registrar why the hearing of the case was not fixed.
The latter replied that the case had to be referred to the constitutional bench, but was fixed before a regular bench by mistake.
Justice Aqeel Abbasi inquired if that was a mistake, then it had been going on for quite some time. “It is strange you realized it so late,” he added.
Justice Abbasi remarked that in his opinion, including him in the bench was a mistake. “I had already heard the case in the Sindh High Court (SHC),” he added.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori