Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday made candid remarks regarding the Practice and Procedure Rules, observing that the rule-makers had “done a remarkable job” by ensuring the document was no longer confidential and had now been uploaded on the court’s website.
Justice Kayani said he had read the entire 596-page document, adding that lawyers had now come to know that the Practice and Procedure Rules existed, but in practical terms, there was nothing particularly substantive in them.
During the hearing of a case in his court on Tuesday, a lawyer argued that the rules were merely a copy-paste of the Lahore High Court (LHC) rules, to which Justice Mohsin Kayani remarked that significant effort had gone into drafting them and that accusing one’s own high court of such conduct was unfair.
The judge further observed that there was a proper procedure for framing and enforcing rules, noting that they were required to be read and approved by the full court, yet the 596-page rules had been circulated just one day before the full court meeting.
Justice Kayani also disclosed that he had raised objections to the approval of the rules, stating that it had been suggested during the full court meeting too that the rules be approved in the form of a “closed book”.
Reporter: Ehtisham Kiani