Senior puisne judge says he can’t attend committee’s meeting until constitutional validity of amendments is determined
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah (Left) and Justice Munib Akhtar. — Supreme Court of Pakistan
Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has expressed concerns over newly promulgated Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance that deals with the affairs of the top court including the formation of benches.
In a letter written to the secretary of the Supreme Court on Monday, Justice Shah said within hours of the promulgation of the ordinance, the judges committee was reconstituted and Justice Munib Akhtar was removed from the composition of the committee.
Last week, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa appointed Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan to the three-member judges’ committee, excluding Justice Munib Akhtar hours after the promulgation of the new practice law.
The newly amended law grants additional powers to the chief justice to nominate a judge as a member of a committee, if a member of the committee is absent. The ordinance also gave the CJP authority to assign cases.
Justice Mansoor, in his letter, noted that no reasons were given as to why the second senior most judge, Justice Akhtar, was removed from the composition of the Committee. “Furthermore, no reasons were given why the next senior most judge was ignored and instead, the fourth senior most judge was nominated as a member of the Committee.”
“Such unfortunate cherry picking and undemocratic display of one-man show are precisely what the Act tried to discourage and replace-a stance that was upheld by the Full Court Bench of this Court in Raja Amer,” he wrote.
