LHC full bench on Model Town JIT challenged in SC

Petitioner questions CJ’s authority to form full bench while case was being heard by division bench

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court chief justice’s authority to form a full bench and its decision to restrain a newly-formed joint investigation committee from further probing the Model Town massacre has been challenged at the Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry.

Bisma Amjad, the daughter of deceased Tanzeela Amjad, filed a civil petition through senior advocate Azhar Siddique under Article 185(3) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973. She asked for a grant of leave to appeal against the impugned order of March 22, 2019, passed by a LHC full bench.

Where several questions were raised in the appeal against the full bench’s order of suspending provincial government’s notification of a fresh JIT, the petition also questioned the powers of the LHC CJ to form a full bench for a matter that was already being heard by a division bench. It was also pointed out that the division bench never requested the formation of a full bench.

Counsel Azhar Siddique said when a case has been assigned to a bench, how could it be withdrawn from the same unless there is a request formation of a larger bench. “This was not the case in this matter. Therefore, the LHC CJ does not have the power to withdraw the case from the division bench and entrust the same to a full bench.

He said the application for the mentioned case was filed from the judicial side, but no hearing took place. The lawyer said the LHC CJ did not issue notices for the hearing of the application and neither was it heard. The lawyer continued that the chief justice did not have the authority to pass an order for the full bench without hearing the other parties.

He further mentioned that March 22, 2019, was fixed as the date of the hearing, but no supplementary cause list was issued till a few minutes before the start of proceedings. Moreover, notices for the hearing were not issued to any of the parties and the people concerned only learnt that it was taking place once proceedings had concluded. This action deprived all the parties involved of presenting their point of view.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2019.