Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has declared the delay in scheduling the bench powers case as “contempt of court,” urging Chief Justice Yahya Afridi to address the matter promptly.
In a letter co-signed by Justices Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Abbasi, concerns were raised over the handling of judicial orders.
Sources reported that that Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan was also informed through a separate letter, which referenced Justice Abbasi’s recent inclusion in the bench on 16 January. The judges expressed dissatisfaction over the failure to schedule the case for a hearing on 20 January.
Justice Mansoor’s letter criticised the procedural delays, arguing that the bench could have been formed earlier to ensure timely proceedings.
He further stated that disregarding judicial orders undermines the authority of the court.
The issue has sparked debate about judicial practices and compliance within the court’s administrative processes.
The Supreme Court’s procedural committee, which met on 17 January, was also mentioned in the correspondence. Justice Mansoor emphasised that his stance on the matter is already on record.
Separately, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has removed the Additional Registrar (Judicial) on account of serious lapse and the Registrar has been directed to look into the matter. The issue involves mismanagement in fixation of cases. CPLA Nos. 836-K to 887-K, 951-K, 1056-K of 2020 and 741-K to 743-K of 2021 and 165-K of 2022, are bunch of cases where the vires of Custom Act, 1969 were challenged.
These cases were required to be fixed before the Constitutional Bench but were mistakenly fixed before the regular Bench of the Supreme Court, consequently, it led to wastage of time, resources of the institution as well as the parties, said a press release issued here Tuesday.
Briefly, it is stated that the mentioned cases were fixed before a regular Bench of three Hon’ble Judges. The cases were heard on 13th January 2025 where in addition to merit of the case, the constitutionality of sub section 2 of section 11A of the Customs Act were challenged.
Based on this, the jurisdiction of the Bench was contested. Subsequently, the cases were adjourned till 16th January 2025. Realizing the serious lapse on their part, the Judicial Branch through a note approached the regular Committee under section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023. Keeping in view the serious nature of lapse the Committee convened on 17th of January 2025 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
The Committee noted that clause 3 of Article 191A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic Pakistan read with clause 5 of Article 191A of the Constitution expressly vests such jurisdiction in the Constitutional Bench and none other. The Committee therefore withdrew these cases from the regular Bench and directed that the same should be placed before the Constitutional Bench Committee constituted under Article 191A of the Constitution for re-fixation. The regular Committee also directed that in future all cases falling under Article 191A of the Constitution shall be placed before the Constitutional Bench Committee constituted under Article 191A of the Constitution irrespective of any order passed by a regular Bench.
The regular Committee directed the Registrar of the Supreme Court to expedite the process of scrutiny of all pending cases as well as due diligence of the case daily instituted in this court to avoid repetition of such lapses. It is worthy to mention that the Constitutional Bench Committee also met on 17th of January 2025 and decided to fix all cases challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment and vires of laws. Therefore, a Constitutional Bench comprising eight Hon’ble Judges will hear these petitions on 27th January 2025.
Meanwhile, the regular Bench consisting of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi heard the contempt proceeding today, initiated against the Additional Registrar (Judicial). However, on account of sick leave of the Additional Registrar (Judicial), the Registrar Supreme Court, Mr. Muhammad Salim Khan, appeared before the Hon’ble Bench. He pleaded that the fixation of the cases were on account of mistake which is being examined. He also contended that delisting of the cases before this Hon’ble Bench was not based on malicious intent of the Additional Registrar. Instead, it was a bona fide act taken in compliance with the direction of the regular Committee.
The Supreme Court issued removal order of the Additional Registrar (Judicial). The Chief Justice of Pakistan directed the Registrar Supreme Court to dedicate more resources for early completion of the scrutiny of the pending cases in order to avoid inconvenience to the litigants and legal community.