RO seeks clarification on case listing

The Supreme Court registrar office has sought an explanation from the officials of the fixer branch for scheduling the constitutional interpretation case in a regular bench led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.

According to sources, the registrar's office has demanded clarification on how a case meant for a Constitutional Bench (CB) was assigned to a regular bench. The officials have been asked to submit their response within seven days.

The issue arose after Justice Shah's bench decided to hear a case concerning Article 191A of the Customs Duty Act.

A day earlier, a seven-member CB led by Justice Aminuddin Khan resumed hearing the cases which were earlier placed before a regular bench headed by Justice Shah.

However, on January 17, the Supreme Court committee that lists cases before benches withdrew the cases from the regular bench and referred them to the CB committee for re-listing.

This irked the regular bench which initiated contempt proceedings against an additional registrar, Nazar Abbas, for violating its order. Later, on January 27, the bench exonerated the official from contempt charges but noted that the SC committees had committed contempt of court.