Justice Shah Questions Bench Formation for SC Additional Registrar's Plea

Justice Shah Questions Bench Formation for SC Additional Registrar’s Plea

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court’s senior judge, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, has filed an objection on conflicts of interest in the bench that is larger than it was created to hear the appeal in the bench power case.

“The judges who have a conflict of interest in the matter cannot sit on the bench. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar are the members of the Committee that took up the matter of CPLA No 836-5/2020 and fixed it on 27-1-2025 before the constitutional bench,” Justice Shah’s letter addressed the judges of the Committee.

The matter at hand is related to the incorrect fixing of cases that included a challenge of the validity of the Customs Act 1969 — by the Additional Registrar (Judicial) Nazar Abbas, who incorrectly fixed cases that were meant to be heard by the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench, instead of an ordinary one. Subsequently, the two-member court, which comprised Justice Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, gave Abbas a show-cause notification.

In addition, the Registrar had to submit an answer to the show cause notice to the court, asking the court to withdraw it and stating that no breach of court order was committed, and the court held a verdict in the contempt trial.

Then came the filing of an ICA submitted by Abbas against the show-cause order issued against Abbas for contempt of the court. He also pleaded with the SC to stop the contempt proceedings commenced against him until the final decision on the appeal to the court.

The Supreme Court constituted a six-member larger bench, led by Justice Mandokhail, which will examine the case of Abbas on the 27th of January (Monday) at 1 pm.

The bench also includes Justice Mazhar, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, and Justice Mussarat Hilali.

The issue is that Justice Shah has now protested against the bench of six by stating it is because Justice Mandokhail and Justice Mazhar “cannot be members of the bench as the decisions of both the committees are in question in the contempt proceedings.”

The senior judge noted that he had conveyed his opposition to the Court Roster issued by the Registrar following approval from two members of the Committee formed under the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act of 2023 via WhatsApp.

The judge was reminded that the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi had called an informal meeting after attending the Judicial Commission of Pakistan session in his chambers.

The meeting was with the participation of CJP, Justice Shah, and the head of the constitutional bench, Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan — the senior judge from the puisne remarked that they had agreed that a bigger bench should be appointed to listen to appeals under the ICA. He suggested the formation of a bench consisting of five members by seniority, excluding those who could not be able to hear the appeal due to conflicts of interest.

“Later in the evening, I received a WhatsApp message at 9:33 pm from my secretary requesting approval for the proposed bench of six members. [….] I advised my secretary I could attend to it later as I have some reservations.

“However, at 10:28pm, I was informed by my secretary that the bench stood constituted and the roster had been issued by the majority decision of the committee,” in the letter from Justice Shah.

In his following argument, the judge stated that he was not allowed to express his thoughts on the case because the file had not been sent to his office. The majority of the court itself decided on the issue and made the roster.

“Therefore, I want this note to be placed on the record of the decision of the committee dated 23-1-2025 constituting the above larger bench,” Justice Shah said. Justice Shah.