ISLAMABAD: Senior puisne choose Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has demanded formation of full court docket on the matter of the newly promulgated Supreme Courtroom (Observe and Process) Modification Ordinance, whereas expressing issues over the exclusion of Justice Munib Akhtar from the judges’ committee.
In a letter written to the secretary of the Supreme Courtroom, Justice Shah stated inside hours of the promulgation of the ordinance, the judges committee was reconstituted and Justice Munib Akhtar was faraway from the composition of the committee with none clarification.
Justice Shah stated he can not attend the committee’s assembly till the constitutional validity of the amendments made by the amending Ordinance is decided.
Final week, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa appointed Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan to the three-member judges’ committee, excluding Justice Munib Akhtar hours after the promulgation of the brand new observe legislation.
The newly amended legislation grants further powers to the chief justice to appoint a choose as a member of a committee, if a member of the committee is absent. The ordinance additionally gave the CJP authority to assign circumstances.
Justice Mansoor, in his letter, famous that no causes got as to why the second senior most choose, Justice Akhtar, was faraway from the composition of the Committee. “Moreover, no causes got why the following senior most choose was ignored and as a substitute, the fourth senior most choose was nominated as a member of the Committee.”
“Such unlucky cherry selecting and undemocratic show of one-man present are exactly what the Act tried to discourage and replace-a stance that was upheld by the Full Courtroom Bench of this Courtroom in Raja Amer,” he wrote.
Justice Mansoor additionally emphasised significance of collegial decision-making inside the judiciary, saying that “the precept of collegial working stands as a cornerstone for making certain justice, equity, and the bigger good of the individuals who search its intervention”.
“The focus of final administrative powers within the arms of a single people, such because the Chief Justice. runs counter to the beliefs of democratic governance and judicial equity,” he wrote, referencing the Supreme Courtroom’s personal ruling within the Raja Amer case.
The senior puisne choose identified {that a} full-bench of Supreme Courtroom upheld the whereas upholding the constitutional validity of the Act in Raja Amer held:
(i) Article 191 of the Structure of Pakistan vests the preliminary and first energy to make guidelines for regulating its observe and process within the Supreme Courtroom of Pakistan, whereas the facility vested within the Legislature to enact a legislation on this topic is sort of a examine on the rule-making energy of the Supreme Courtroom to be seldom exercised solely when it’s crucial to take action within the public curiosity.
(ii) and the Act has facilitated entry to justice, instilled transparency, made the belief of Basic Rights simpler, and the Supreme Courtroom extra impartial.
“With foresight and knowledge, this Courtroom closed the door to any future intrusion or encroachment by the Parliament, beneath the rubric of the Act, upon the independence of this Courtroom, by holding that if any such modification is made, or tried to be made, as a way to compromise or impair the independence of the judiciary, this Courtroom being the custodian of the Structure, could be there to cope with the identical”, it added.
He additionally expressed concern over the urgency in promulgating the ordinance, saying: “The constitutional conditionality of the very act of promulgating the amending Ordinance additionally requires judicial willpower as no urgency has been spelled out that necessitated its promulgation, as a substitute of a correct amending enactment by way of the Act of Parliament.”
Moreover, Justice Shah additionally known as for a full court docket assembly to evaluation the ordinance, stating, “Independence, transparency, and collegiality required the Chief Justice to boost a right away alarm and concern on the promulgation of the amending Ordinance within the mild of the Courtroom’s celebrated pronouncement in Raja Amer.”
He warned that any selections made by the reconstituted committee might undermine the court docket’s credibility and violate the Full Courtroom Bench’s choice in Raja Amer case.
“Till the constitutional validity of the amendments made by the amending Ordinance is decided by the Full Courtroom Bench of this Courtroom, or the judges of this Courtroom resolve to behave upon the amendments in a Full Courtroom assembly on the executive aspect, I, with respect, remorse that I can not take part within the conferences of the Committee,” the choose concluded.
