Supreme Court judges have expressed concern over a lack of transparency in case planning, with Justice Mansoor Ali Shah stating that he was not aware of a judicial committee meeting despite being a member.
Barrister Salahuddin appeared before a three-member bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Express News reported.
Barrister Salahuddin claimed that he had come from Karachi, but the case was not scheduled for a hearing that day. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah replied that he would look into the matter and summoned the Additional Registrar Supreme Court, Nazar Abbas, to explain why the matter was not scheduled for hearing.
After a short adjournment, the hearing resumed. Deputy Registrar Supreme Court, Zulfiqar Ali, appeared before the court and informed that a judicial committee meeting had taken place where it was decided that the case would be scheduled for a hearing at a constitutional court on January 27.
The clerk stated that the committee’s decision was attached to the case file. Judge Ayesha Malik added that cases scheduled for them for the whole week had been changed and details regarding these changes should also be given.
Addressing the deputy registrar, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said they were sitting in the tea room and asked for details of the minutes of the judicial committee meeting and the changes in the cases. He directed that the minutes of the meeting be submitted to them and the judges would return to the courtroom.
Later, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing to the next day and issued a show cause notice to the Additional Registrar in contempt of court.
The court ordered the Additional Registrar to appear in person and give an explanation. It further ordered that the case be scheduled for the first hearing at 9.30 the next day.
The Supreme Court had previously announced that the case was to be heard on 20 January at 13.00.
The Supreme Court stated that it had ordered the case scheduled for the same court. The court noted that the docket of the case was not issued that day and the Additional Registrar was absent due to health issues.
It was further informed by the Supreme Court’s office that the judicial committee had scheduled the case for a constitutional meeting on 27 January. However, the office had not yet received the minutes from the judges’ committee where this decision was made.
The Supreme Court questioned how a court order dated January 16 could be ignored. It was also informed that all tax related cases before this tribunal had been cancelled. In addition, the court was told that a research officer would now decide which cases should be submitted to the Constitutional Court, effectively bypassing the court order issued by the Judicial Committee.
Judge Ayesha Malik observed: “Will a research officer now decide where to schedule a case?” Justice Mansoor Ali Shah stated that the case had been transferred to the Administrative Committee.
He questioned why another judge, if Justice Irfan Saadat was unavailable, could not be placed on the stand, stressing that the committee had no authority to prevent a case from being scheduled.
Justice Ayesha Malik further stated that the committee had no power to transfer a case completely. She added that according to the 26th amendment of the constitution, this bench should be referred to as a constitutional court and this case could have been discussed in their court.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah added that the case was not scheduled for their court or any other court; rather, it had been made to disappear entirely. He further stated that if the Judicial Committee had wished, it could have reconstituted the entire bench.
