Constitutional bench to hear cases from 14th

All available judges of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court, excluding Justice Ayesha Malik, will preside over "some older" constitutional cases on November 14—the first hearing to be conducted by the special bench formed through a constitutional amendment passed on October 21.

The bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, comprises Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan. This bench was constituted by a three-member committee.

The committee led by Justice Aminuddin Khan and consisting of Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar met on Tuesday. According to a statement issued after the meeting Justice Mazhar, who is currently in Karachi, attended the meeting via telephone.

During the meeting, the Registrar's Office apprised the committee of the pending cases that fall within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Bench. After thorough consideration, the committee resolved that priority shall be given to the oldest cases.

"In view of the unavailability of the Hon'ble Mrs Justice Ayesha A. Malik on November 14 and 15, 2024, it was resolved that a bench comprising all available judges shall be constituted to proceed with cases on these dates," the statement said.

The Registrar's Office was directed to list these cases accordingly for hearing before the bench. The committee further resolved to reconvene on Wednesday, November 13 at 12:30pm at the Supreme Court upon the arrival of Justice Mazhar in Islamabad for further deliberations.

According to the minutes of a meeting led by Justice Khan on November 6, colour coding of the cases shall be done as a first step for their transfer to the newly formed Constitutional Bench.

According to the minutes issued on Monday, Justice Khan was briefed about the pendency of the cases under Article 184(1), 184(3) and 186 including human rights cases.

It said the current working/practice of processing of the constitution petitions and proposed strategy for future adoption were also placed before the head of the constitutional bench.

The participants agreed that color coding of the cases should be done.

In this regard, the meeting tasked Mazhar Ali Khan, a senior research officer at the Supreme Court, with scrutinizing the cases arising out of Article 199 of the Constitution.

The minutes said the head of the bench will, however, decide about listing of cases, formation of further constitutional benches, issuance of court roster and the number of cases to be heard each week in consultation with the remaining two senior most members of the constitutional benches.