Senior judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, in a letter to Supreme Court, has expressed his reservations about the formation of the new three-member committee after the promulgation of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance.
Justice Shah began by expressing alarm at the hasty reconstitution of the Practice and Procedure Committee, which took place just hours after the amending ordinance was promulgated.
He highlighted the lack of transparency in the removal of Justice Munib Akhtar from the committee, stating, “No reasons were given as to why the second senior-most judge, Justice Munib Akhtar, was removed from the composition of the Committee.”
The justice further criticised the arbitrary inclusion of a less senior judge in the committee, describing it as “unfortunate cherry-picking” that undermines democratic principles.
In his letter, Justice Shah called for a full court meeting to review the ordinance.
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Justice Shah concluded by reaffirming his commitment to judicial independence, saying, “Until the constitutional validity of the amendments made by the amending Ordinance is determined by the Full Court Bench of this Court, or the judges of this Court resolve to act upon the amendments in a Full Court meeting on the administrative side, I, with respect, regret that I cannot participate in the meetings of the Committee.”
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that he would not rejoin the committee unless the full court reviews the constitutionality of the ordinance or until the full court agrees to implement the amendments through the ordinance.
Alternatively, he will return only if the chief justice restores the previous committee and reinstates Justice Munib Akhtar.
What is the new amendment in Practice, Procedure Ordinance?
In a nutshell, the newly amended law grants additional powers to the chief justice to nominate a judge as a member of a committee, if a member of the committee is absent. The ordinance also gave the CJP authority to assign cases.
