Judge's absence disrupts scheduled cases

Supreme Court's senior puisne judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah did not hear cases on Wednesday leading to delisting of the cases which a bench led by him was supposed to take up.

Some cases were listed before a three-member bench, led by Justice Shah and comprising Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Aqeel Abbasi for Wednesday.

As Justice Shah did not show up, the cases were transferred to a two-member bench consisting of Justice Ayesha and Justice Abbasi in Courtroom 6. However, after sitting for a short while, the bench left the courtroom.

Justice Shah recently refused to attend a meeting of a three-member Supreme Court committee in protest against removal of Justice Munib Akhtar from the penal in the wake of the promulgation of the Supreme Court (Practice & Procedure) Amendment Ordinance, 2024.

The ordinance promulgated on September 20 amended the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 that had limited the chief justice's powers over bench formation.

Under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, a three-member committee comprising the chief justice of Pakistan and the two most senior SC judges was responsible for deciding the formation of benches and listing of cases.