The Supreme Court has directed its registrar to file a reply within 14 days stating why a review petition against the court’s May 18, 2011 order regarding the removal of seven PCO judges has not been entertained.
Former Sindh High Court’s PCO judge Yasmin Abbasey on March 20 filed a petition in the Supreme Court, requesting a review of the May 18, 2011 order regarding the removal of seven PCO judges, who had refused to tender apologies in a contempt of court case against them for violating the November 3, 2007 order.
The top court, while announcing its detailed judgment on the PCO judges’ appeals on May 18, 2011, held that since November 3, 2007, the actions of former president Pervez Musharraf were declared unconstitutional by the court on July 31, 2009, and later invalidated by parliament in the 18th Amendment. Thus all the PCO judges ceased to hold their offices after the passage of the constitutional amendment. The court had also directed the federal law secretary to issue notifications regarding the removal of the judges because they ceased to hold their offices from April 20, 2010, the day the 18th Constitutional Amendment was passed.
The SC’s senior-most judge Justice Nasirul Mulk on Monday heard an appeal in his chamber against the registrar’s March 20 order, wherein it is stated that the former SHC judge’s review petition cannot be entertained.
Talking to the media outside the Supreme Court’s premises, Justice (retd) Abbasey said Justice Nasir has issued a notice to the registrar to justify why the petition was returned. “The registrar will also explain under which Supreme Court rules he delegated the authority to the officer of the institution’s branch who had returned the reference,” she added.
Justice (retd) Abbasey argued that the registrar did not have the authority to decide whether her review petition could be entertained as this is the function of the court. She moved the appeal on March 24, 2014 after it was returned by the court office on the grounds that the review petition was scandalous.
Seven judges are still facing contempt of court proceedings after refusing to tender unconditional apologies before the court.
They include Justice Hasnat Ahmed Khan, Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Justice Syed Hamid Ali Shah, Justice (r) Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, Justice Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah, Justice Yasmin Abbasey and Justice Jahanzaib Rahim. In view of the court’s order, these judges were removed by a simple notification of the law ministry as they have also been deprived of pension benefits.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2014.
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