SC Bench hearing suo motu splits as four judges recuse to hear case
ISLAMABAD: Four judges of the Supreme Court recused to be part of the 9-member bench hearing the suo motu case on delay in polls in Punjab and KP.
Justices Athar Minallah, Yahya Afridi, Ijazul Ahsan, and Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi refused to hear the suo motu case on Monday.
Thus, the 9-member bench reduced to five-member bench of the apex court.
Consequently, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial said that remaining five members of the bench will continue to hear the case.
CJP said that the bench will meet on Tuesday morning again to ascertain the constitutional obligation in case of delay in polls.
Earlier, the coalition parties in the PDM _ PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, and Pakistan Bar Council raised objection to the two judges of the Supreme Court.
In their petition, they urged Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ijazul Ahsan to recuse from hearing the suo motu case.
The nine-member bench, led by CJP, consisted of Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah.
However, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Yahya Afridi recused from hearing the case on Monday (Feb 27).
On Friday, the mainstream political parties in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) demanded a full court for hearing the suo motu case.
The PDM lawyer Farook H. Naik submitted this request to the Supreme Court on Friday during the hearing of the case.
The lawyer of the PDM also urged the two judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to withdraw from the nine-member bench hearing the suo motu notice.
On February 22, the Chief Justice of Pakistan took suo motu notice of a delay in the Punjab and KP assemblies’ polls.
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel raised an objection to invoking suo motu jurisdiction over the delay in announcing the election dates. He said that the suo motu was not “justified.”
While the other two judges on the bench, Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, put up questions about the legality of the dissolution of the assemblies.
Meanwhile, five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court continued hearing of the case on Monday.
