- Advertisement -
ISLAMABAD, Oct 09 (APP):The Supreme Court on Thursday discussed at length the question of forming a full court while hearing petitions challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The eight-member constitutional bench, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, adjourned further proceedings until October 13.
At the outset of the hearing, Advocate Munir A. Malik, representing the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, said he endorsed the arguments presented earlier by Advocate Hamid Khan and would add further points. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail asked whether he also supported Hamid Khan’s view that the 26th Amendment points be set aside, to which Malik replied that a full court did exist even before the amendment.
Justice Mandokhail questioned whether the current bench was bound to form a full court or if it was merely a request.
Justice Ayesha Malik asked if there was any obstacle to constituting a full court, while Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar inquired whether the present bench had the authority to do so.
Responding, Munir Malik argued that it made no difference whether a bench was regular or constitutional, as it possessed full judicial authority. Justice Ayesha Malik observed that the Court had often relied on the Constitution itself, rather than amendments.
Malik urged the bench to direct the formation of a full court, asserting that only a bench comprising all Supreme Court judges should hear the matter. Justice Musarrat Hilali questioned how the current bench could decide its own jurisdiction, to which Malik replied that even if jurisdiction ceased, judicial authority remained in tact.
Justice Hilali remarked that judges promoted under the 26th Amendment should not sit on the bench, prompting Justice Mandokhail to respond, “We were judges even before the amendment — have new judges been brought from another country?”
Later, Advocate Abid Zuberi, representing six former SCBA presidents, argued that the Practice and Procedure Committee could issue directions for forming a full court.
The hearing was adjourned till Monday, (Oct 13).