Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Muneeb Akhtar skip full court reference

Senior Supreme Court (SC) judges Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Muneeb Akhtar were notably absent from the full court reference held on Monday to mark the beginning of the new judicial year.

The event was presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa, with most other SC judges in attendance.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, currently abroad in the United States, missed the session due to his participation in seminars on legal issues.

He is expected to return to Pakistan on September 12 and will resume hearing cases from September 16.

His international engagements include delivering lectures at the seminars.

Justice Muneeb Akhtar was also absent from the reference, although the reason for his absence was not publicly stated.

Other key figures, including members of the Shariat Appellate bench, Justice Qibla Ayaz and Justice Khalid Masood, were present at the reference.

The full court reference marks the commencement of a new judicial year, reflecting on the achievements and challenges faced by the judiciary.

'Predicting verdicts based on benches is a thing of past': CJP Isa

Meanwhile, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has maintained that transparency in the apex court has improved significantly, stating that past practices of predicting case outcomes based on the "bench composition" no longer exist.

Speaking at a full court reference marking the start of the new judicial year on Monday, CJP Isa remarked, “Previously, it was common to predict the outcome of a case just by looking at the bench".

"Now, even I do not know which judges will sit alongside me for a case," he continued.

In his address, the CJP outlined several reforms aimed at enhancing the judicial process, including the live broadcasting of hearings.