The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday sought from the federal government details of its new plots allotment policy, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Speaking during the hearing of petitions filed against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) ruling in which it had declared the allotment of plots to judges and bureaucrats as illegal, Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked these are not the judges; these are their decisions that speak.  

A three-member bench of the apex court, led by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard the petitions. 

Barrister Akram Sheikh, representing the petitioners, told the court that the IHC, in its verdict, had said that after getting plots, the judges lost their impartiality. “This is high court’s observation that if plots are allotted to the judges, the entire judicial system will collapse,” he added.  

Justice Bandial asked him whether he thought that the IHC gave the verdict after taking suo motu notice of the plots’ allotment case.   

Akram Sheikh replied that it was the high court’s order which created the impression that the court meant it when it had said that the judges getting plots no longer remained ‘impartial’.   

He went on to say that the IHC should not have gone beyond its limits by pointing fingers at the superior judiciary. “IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Athar Minallah should have exercised ‘caution’, especially when he is seized with the hearing of contempt of court case against the owner of Jang Group of Newspapers, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, and former top judge of Gilgit-Baltistan chief court Rana Shamim,” he opined. 

Justice Bandial retorted that there was a mention of ‘district judiciary’ in the Islamabad High Court’s order. “But the way you are arguing the case, it appears that the media projected the court’s verdict in such a manner that it (the verdict) went on to cover the entire judiciary,” he said, and added, “And the reason why the IHC took notice of Rana Shamim’s affidavit was because the name of one of its own judges was mentioned in it.” 

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked the barrister to point out what was wrong with the IHC’s decision.

The judge further asked him as to what was the issue when the federal government had announced a new plots’ allotment policy. 

Justice Bandial asked the petitioners’ counsel to first submit all the relevant documents, saying then the court would look into the case.

The SC then adjourned the hearing of the case for an indefinite time period.