Dissenting judges can be part of 'CB bench'

Justice Aminuddin says not every application will be decided on priority

ISLAMABAD:

The lawyer for the petitioners, seeking review of apex court's decision of allotting reserved seats in the assemblies to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), argued on Wednesday that the judges, who disagreed with the majority, could remain part of the bench.

An 11-member Constitutional Bench (CB), headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, heard the review appeals against the Supreme Court's decision on July 12, 2024 in reserved seats case. During the hearing, the lawyer for the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Hamid Khan concluded his arguments.

Earlier this month, a 13-member CB admitted for hearing the review pleas with an 11-2 majority decision. Two members of the bench, Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Aqeel Abbasi, dismissed the review petitions as inadmissible.

Later, a new cause list was issued, which said that Justice Malik and Justice Abbasi would not be part of the bench for further hearing of the petitions. During Wednesday's hearing, bench member Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail asked the question whether judges, who disagree, would remain on the bench.

Makhdoom Ali Khan said that the judges, who do not give a decision on the merits, could remain part of the bench. He said in the current scenario, if five more judges say tomorrow that the composition of the bench was not correct, then the majority decision would be a letter of seven judges.

And if an order of the court is signed, the lawyer added, it would be called order of the court.

"There has been such a history that there was no order of the court," he continued. "Judges who do not give a decision on the merits can remain part of the bench."

Makhdoom Ali Khan started arguments after SIC lawyer Hamid Khan completed his arguments on a miscellaneous application regarding live broadcast of the court proceedings. He said that at least there was an example of approval of a pilot project in this regard.

Hamid Khan requested the court to first decide on his application for the live streaming of the proceedings. However, Justice Aminuddin Khan replied that not every application would be decided first. He said that there were more applications also, which would be decided after all were heard.

Hamid Khan also said that there were many petitions against the 26th Constitutional Amendment in the Supreme Court. On that Justice Mandokhel asked what was connection between the review appeals and the 26th Amendment.

Hamid Khan said that constitutional benches were formed under the 26th Constitutional Amendment. Justice Aminuddin told the lawyer that the judges were bound by the Constitution of Pakistan, therefore, the constitutional bench was hearing the case.

After Hamid Khan's arguments, Makhdoom Ali Khan started his arguments. He said that the Supreme Court gave a short order on July 12, 2024, while the filing of the review appeals began July 18. The detailed decision of the apex court was issued on September 23.