ISLAMABAD, NOV 14: A full court meeting of the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday updated the top court’s rules, replacing the previous Supreme Court Rules, 1980.
The meeting, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, “unanimously updated the Supreme Court Rules, 2025”, read a statement issued by the apex court.
The rules were updated on the recommendation of a committee — including Justices Shahid Waheed, Irfan Saadat Khan, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi — tasked with removing difficulties arising in giving effect to its provisions, the communique added.
The meeting appreciated the members of the committee for their role in reviewing the Supreme Court Rules, 1980, and drafting the new rules.
According to the statement, the updated rules were aimed at improving service delivery and ensuring “inexpensive and expeditious administration of justice”.
The updated rules comprise as many as seven parts, 38 orders, and six schedules, with approximately 280 provisions amended, 60 new provisions added, and five outdated provisions deleted.
As many as 17 Supreme Court judges were in attendance, while Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ayesha Malik skipped the meeting.
The full court previously comprised 24 judges, of whom three were transferred to the Federal Shariat Court, while two tendered their resignations, bringing the total number of judges down to 19.
On Thursday, SC Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah tendered their resignations, which were approved by President Asif Ali Zardari earlier today (Friday).
The two judges resigned from their posts following the enactment of the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
In their resignation letters, the two jurists described the constitutional amendment as a “grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan”.
They previously had urged CJP Afridi to convene a full court meeting before the enactment of the 27th Amendment.
However, Justice Shah and Justice Minallah quit their jobs before the full court meeting, which, in addition to updating the Supreme Court rules, also unanimously approved giving the status of senior advocate of the Supreme Court to advocate Muhammad Munir Paracha.
Meanwhile, Justice Aminuddin Khan became the first Chief Justice of the newly formed Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), established under the 27th Amendment.
President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath to Justice Khan at the Aiwan-e-Sadar (President’s House), a day after appointing him to the post.
With Justice Khan as CJ of the FCC, the Ministry of Law and Justice has notified the appointment of six judges to the said court.
The judges include Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha, Justice Rozi Khan Barrech and Justice Arshad Hussain Shah.
