Supreme Court judges have raised concerns over a lack of transparency in case planning, with Justice Mansoor Ali Shah saying he was not aware of a meeting of the judges’ committee although he be a member.
Lawyer Salahuddin appeared before a three-member bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Express News reported.
Lawyer Salahuddin argued that he had come from Karachi, but the hearing of the case was not scheduled that day. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah responded that he would look into the matter and summoned Additional Registrar of the Supreme Court Nazar Abbas to explain why the hearing had not been scheduled.
After a brief adjournment, the hearing resumed. Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court Zulfiqar Ali appeared before the court and informed that a meeting of the judges’ committee was held, during which it was decided that the matter would be heard before a constitutional bench on January 27.
The deputy registrar said the commission’s decision was attached to the file. Justice Ayesha Malik added that the cases before her for the entire week had been changed and details regarding these changes should also be provided.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, speaking to the deputy registrar, said they were sitting in the tea room and asked for details of the minutes of the judges’ committee meetings and changes in cases. He ordered that the minutes of the meeting be presented to them and that the judges return to the courtroom.
Later, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing to the next day and issued a show cause notice to the Additional Judicial Registrar for contempt of court.
The court ordered the Additional Judicial Registrar to appear in person and provide an explanation. He further ordered that the matter be scheduled as first hearing at 9:30 a.m. the next day.
The Supreme Court had earlier ordered the hearing of the case to be fixed for January 20 at 1 p.m.
The Supreme Court said it had ordered the case to be brought before the same court. The court noted that the docket of the case had not been released that day and the additional registrar was absent due to ill health.
The Supreme Court office further informed that the judges committee has scheduled the case before a constitutional chamber on January 27. However, the office had not yet received the minutes of the meeting of the judges’ committee at which this decision was taken.
The apex court wondered how a court order dated January 16 could be ignored. He was also informed that all tax cases brought before this court had been quashed. Additionally, the court was informed that a research officer would now determine which cases should be referred to the constitutional court, thereby circumventing the judicial order issued by the judges’ committee.
Justice Ayesha Malik remarked: “Will a tracing officer now decide where a case should be placed on the docket? Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said the matter had been transferred to the administrative committee.
He questioned why, if Justice Irfan Saadat was not available, another judge could not be appointed to the bench, emphasizing that the commission had no authority to prevent a case from being scheduled.
Justice Ayesha Malik further said the committee did not have the power to transfer a case entirely. She added that under the 26th constitutional amendment, this judiciary should be termed as constitutional judiciary and this issue could have been argued in their court.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah added that the matter was not brought before their court or any other court; on the contrary, it had been made to disappear completely. He added that if the judges committee had wanted, it could have reconstituted the entire bench.
