IHC order contested: Rehearing of bulletproof car case challenged

Petitioner says power to remand case is not exercisable

ISLAMABAD: A lawyer has challenged an order of a Islamabad High Court (IHC) division bench to a single bench of the same court, directing it to conduct hearings of the Justice (retd) Iftikhar Chaudhry bulletproof car case once again.

IHC judge Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, in his verdict in the case, had directed the federal government to provide a bulletproof car to former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry.

On May 11, a two-member IHC bench, comprising Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and Justice Aamer Farooq, set aside Justice Siddiqui’s verdict and directed him to hold hearings afresh to reconsider some legal aspects of the case.

Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi on Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the two-member bench’s order, contending that the power of remand is not exercisable within the same court. The petition, which invoked article 185(3) of the constitution, argued that the functioning of high courts would be hampered if a judge of the same court is treated as a subordinate by his peers.

Rahi also requested the SC to pass appropriate order for the recovery of amount drawn from the law ministry, adding that higher would be accountability when there is higher responsibility.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2016.