Four judges of the Supreme Court raised objections on the promulgation of the rules of the Supreme Court 2025 without previous deliberations or approval of the complete court.
In a joint note, judges Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Ayesha a Malik and Athar Minallah criticized the procedure, calling it “fallacious” and contrary to constitutional requirements. They stressed that the rules were informed on August 9, 2025, as “approved”, but in three days, the chief judge of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi summoned a full court to request suggestions for the amendments.
The judges said that this sequence tacitly admitted that the full court is the right forum for such decisions, but it was only involved after unilateral approval.
They stressed that the rules should have been presented to the full court in their entirety for real discussion and approval, rather than after the fact.
Criticizing the process to add that “a legitimacy veneer” to an otherwise disabled exercise, the judges asked that the complete meeting of the court will not be reduced to a “cosmetic role”.
They also asked that their objections be registered in the minutes and that the procedure be made public in the interest of transparency.
The judges stressed that public confidence and confidence are based on transparency in constitutional institutions, warning that no court can operate without legitimacy based on the same.
Read: The Supreme Court reveals the modernized rules in 2025
Earlier, the Supreme Court had officially published the rules of the Supreme Court 2025, replacing the rules of the Supreme Court 1980, in what the Court described as its commitment to modernization and digital, and to provide procedural clarity in the judicial system in accordance with global law of law.
Under article 191 of the Constitution, the new rules have replaced the “outdated provisions” and have brought legal proceedings in accordance with contemporary legal, constitutional and technological developments. According to a press release published by SC last week, the rules entered immediately.
The new rules have been drawn up by a committee formed by CJP Afridi. The Committee included four judges SC – Judge Shahid Waheed, judge Irfan Saadat Khan, Judge Naeem Akhter Afghan and judge Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.
