Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court of Pakistan formally withdrew from sitting in the special benches which were constituted under the newly issued Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024. He has declined to sit in any such benches until the Full Court Bench pronounces judgment on the validity of the Ordinance. “I have written to the Chief Justice that until the Full Court Bench decides upon the validity of the Ordinance, I will not sit in any benches constituted thereunder”, Justice Shah said.
Justice Shah referenced Sir Thomas More in his letter, saying, “We often forget, when in power, that people of this country are watching our actions, and that history never forgives.” He said that the Full Court needs to decide first whether the new ordinance is constitutional or if it should restore the committee to its previous structure with the Chief Justice and two senior-most judges.
Justice Shah has repeatedly expressed his reservations over changes recently made to the court’s practice and procedure rules. In a letter of three pages to CJP Isa, on September 23, he objected both to the substance of the amendments and the method of their implementation. According to Justice Shah, the process was not transparent and involved immense changes without discussion or minutes of practice he believes is detrimental to judicial integrity.
Another case of the recent case is a tax review hearing headed by Chief Justice Isa, which too was not included. A special bench for the case had been set up and Justice Shah was to be a part of it; however, the Justice made a point that until then the concerns he might raise regarding procedural amendments are not addressed, he will continue restricting himself to regular benches and cases involving public interest.
Added to these complexities is the controversy surrounding these amendments with Chief Justice Isa due to retire on October 25 when he will hand over the role to Justice Yahya Afridi.
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