ISLAMABAD – Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court remarked on Thursday that apparently, the two-member judges’ committee ignored the judicial order.
Justice Shah, who is heading two-member bench, asked whether, in such a scenario, the matter could be referred to a full court and sought assistance on this question.
He gave these remarks while hearing a case related to contempt of court against additional registrar of the apex court for not scheduling the benches’ jurisdiction case for hearing.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah further remarked that the key question before the court was whether the judges’ committee could withdraw a case despite the existence of a judicial order. He questioned whether a judicial order could be replaced by an administrative order. On this, amicus curiae Hamid Khan stated that an administrative order cannot override a judicial order.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah also observed that the case pertained to the judges’ committee’s withdrawal of the matter, highlighting that the Chief Justice of Pakistan and Justice Aminuddin Khan were part of this committee.
Justice Aqeel Abbasi remarked that there seemed to be some confusion in the matter. He pointed out that in the past, benches were constituted as per the Supreme Court’s authority to formulate rules on such matters. However, he observed that some powers of the Supreme Court had now been curtailed, and the issue of the 26th Constitutional Amendment would arise.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked whether, in any country, the executive, rather than the judiciary, constituted the benches. He asked if there was a single precedent for this. Hamid Khan responded that there was no example of the executive forming benches instead of the judiciary.
Justice remarked that under Article 191A, a constitutional bench would be formed by the Judicial Commission. Justice Aqeel Abbasi asked whether this created an overlap. Hamid Khan responded that while Parliament could legislate on the jurisdiction of all courts except the Supreme Court, it could not weaken the Supreme Court’s powers.
Hamid Khan further submitted that the Practice and Procedure Committee had the authority to schedule constitutional bench cases. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah then asked what would happen if the committee did not follow a judicial order, citing the Raja Aamir case, where a full court was constituted.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked whether, under Article 2A, the Practice and Procedure Committee could withdraw a case and whether it could disregard a judicial order. Hamid Khan responded that such a situation should not arise where the Procedure Committee ignored a judicial order.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah further questioned whether, under the Supreme Court Rules of 1980, a full court would be formed by the Chief Justice or the Practice and Procedure Committee and whether a judicial order could refer the matter of full court formation to the judges’ committee.
Meanwhile, the sources revealed that Additional Registrar Supreme Court, Nazar Abbas, had submitted his response to the show-cause notice.
According to sources, the Additional Registrar, in his reply, requested the court to withdraw the show-cause notice, submitting that he had not defied the court order. He explained that he had prepared a note on the matter of bench formation as per the judicial order and forwarded it to the Practice and Procedure Committee.
