Justice Isa asks whether CJP’s staff officer has power to change bench
Says people raise eyebrows when judges of choice included in bench: SC judge says even CJP bound by rules, regulations
Stay tuned with 24 News HD Android App
When Registrar of the Supreme Court (SC) Ishrat Ali told Justice Qazi Faez Isa that the chief justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) staff officer had changed the two benches he was talking about, the latter asked whether the staff officer had the power to change the bench. “When judges of choice are included in the bench, people will raise their eyebrows,” he said, adding, “After all, the CJP, too, had to follow rules and regulations,” reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
“Why was my bench changed?” Justice Isa questioned.
Addressing the registrar Supreme Court (SC), he said categorically that he nor anybody else had any authority to form the bench. “We are the ones who will decide who is to be included in the bench, and who is not,” the judge said.
He was of the view that sudden changes in the bench created doubts in the minds of people. “We will not listen to the cases listed in today’s cause list,” he said.
Justice Isa told the registrar that if any judge, including him, asked him to fix one case before the other for the hearing, he should flatly refuse. “Prima facie, you are violating the court orders,” the judge said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Justice Qazi Faez Isa took notice of the procedure of fixing the cases for hearing before his bench and summoned the Supreme Court (SC) registrar with all recordsl.
“Why have the cases of the year 2021 been fixed for hearing before my bench?” Justice Faez Isa questioned.
“Why are the new cases fixed for hearing instead of the old ones? Why has my two-member bench been changed?” he added.
“Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi was in the yesterday’s list. Today, Justice Yahya Afridi has been included in the bench,” he said.
He directed the registrar to appear within 15 minutes with all the records.
“Why are the cases not fixed for hearing according to the ‘first come first serve’ principle? What answer shall I give to the people?” he stated.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori