SC releases cause list for cases to be heard by constitutional bench

The Supreme Court on Wednesday released the cause list of cases which will be heard by the recently established constitutional bench on November 14 and 15.

Earlier, the SC constituted a three-judge committee to fix cases, issue court rosters, form benches, and decide weekly caseload for its recently established constitutional bench.

According to the cause list, available on the SC’s website, a six-member bench headed by Justice Aminud Din Khan will hear a total of 34 cases, including 18 cases on Nov 14 and 16 cases on November 15.

On Nov 5, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), in its maiden session, had picked Justice Amin as head of the constitutional bench by a seven-to-five majority.

Chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi, the reconstituted JCP formed a seven-member constitutional bench, including Justices Aminud Din Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha A Malik, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

Cases related to environmental pollution from 1993, 2003, and 2018 have been scheduled for hearing.

The scheduled cases also include a revision petition against the dismissal of the petition regarding the appointment of Qazi Faez Isa as the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court.

A request for rescheduling the 2024 general elections has also been fixed for hearing where the petition sought to shift the elections from Feb to the first week of March.

According to the cause list, cases related to harassment of women in offices have been fixed. The Ali Zafar and Meesha Shafi harassment case has also been fixed for hearing.

An automatic notice case on private use of the Islamabad Convention Centre will also be heard by the bench. The convention centre suo motu was taken on the note of former judge Qazi Faiz Isa.

An application filed for the disqualification of the members of the assembly having business and assets abroad has also been scheduled.

Other scheduled cases include a petition for banning the marriage of government officials with foreign nationals, a petition to declare the legislation passed by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government as null and void and an automatic notice case on overseas bank accounts of Pakistanis.

A petition filed by Mohammad Ali Durrani to bring back laundered money from other countries will also be heard.

Moreover, cases related to the jurisdiction of Gilgit-Baltistan courts in Pakistan and various applications of Khawaja Asif regarding energy projects have also been scheduled.