Judges clarify stance on Arshad Sharif bench

Minutes of the August 1 meeting of a three-member committee that decides the formation of Supreme Court benches have been amended at the request of two of the committee members—Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar—"to reflect their positions accurately."

On Thursday, the committee, created under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, by a majority vote of 2 to 1, decided to form a five-judge larger bench, led by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, to hear senior journalist Arshad Sharif's murder case after summer vacations.

However, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa—who chairs the committee—dissented and emphasized that a three-judge bench, led by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, should hear the matter next week. Some lawyers had seen the committee's decision as being driven by judicial politics.

According to the revised minutes issued by the SC, both judges stated that their positions should be accurately reflected. The judges' stance was that eight hearings of the Arshad Sharif case had already been conducted by a five-member larger bench, and this larger bench should remain unchanged.

The judges argued that Justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar were included in the bench along with former judges. They emphasized that the bench should be formed under the leadership of Justice Jamal Mandokhail.

They also suggested that after Justice Jamal and Justice Mazhar, judges should be included in the bench based on seniority. Accordingly, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi were included in the bench in order of seniority.

The revised minutes noted that in the meeting, the chief justice had stated that he was ready to fulfill the responsibility of hearing appeals against orders of the Federal Shariat Court during his bench days in the vacation period.