Islamabad:
The Supreme Court has removed objections from the Justice Secretary’s office on a petition filed by the PTI founder against changes to the official Secret Act and Army Act and has ordered the office to grant it a number.
A seven-member constitutional bench from the Supreme Court in Pakistan, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan and consisting of Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan, heard Justice Musmarrat Hilali case.
The court asked the lawyer for the TGE PTI founder that he did not turn to High Court first. “It is a matter of great public interest. The changes affect people’s fundamental rights,” replied lawyer shoaib shaheen.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar noted that the Supreme Court now cannot hear petitions against Article 184/3. “Article 199 will be ineffective if we continue to allow direct petitions and bypass the high courts.”
“But this should be decided by the court and not by the Secretary of Justice that what petitions the court would admit and what to send to a Supreme Court,” replied Shoaib Shaheen.
The court asked the lawyer to prepare arguments about the petition permissibility and postpone the hearing of a date to be corrected later.
