Justice Isa case: Full bench dissolved due to ‘non-availability’ of Justice Mazhar Alam – Pakistan

A full bank of 10 members of the Supreme Court who heard a set of petitions challenging the presidential reference against Judge Qazi Faez Isa was dissolved on Monday after one of the judges was unavailable.

Judge Umar Ata Bandial, who headed the bank, said the judges congregated that the bank had dissolved due to the unavailability of Judge Mazhar Alam Miankhel.

"The issue of setting up a new bank is being sent to the president of the court," Judge Bandial said.

Judge Isa's lawyer, Munir A. Malik, again requested that a full bank be formed to hear the case, to which Judge Bandial reminded him that it is up to the president of the court to set up a bank as he sees fit.

This will be the second time that the president of the Supreme Court will be asked to reconstitute the court by listening to the petitions regarding the presidential references against Judge Isa.

Initially, a seven-member bank was set up to hear the petitions, but, after the challenge of Judge Sardar Tariq Masood and Judge Ijazul Ahsan, a request was sent to the president of the court to reconstitute a bank to hear the case. The superior judge had constituted the current 10-member bank.

Lawyers question & # 39; urgency & # 39;

Members of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) expressed reservations about development, saying that "they cannot see justice being done."

Speaking to the media after the court proceedings, PBC lawyers said the bank had dissolved due to the absence of a judge. They added that there was no reason to reconstitute the bank, since, according to an order of the Supreme Court, a bank that begins to hear a petition must hear the whole case.

They said that all the petitioners were present in court and no one had expressed reservations about the current bank. The lawyers announced that they will raise objections about the bank that will be established next.

"[We] I do not understand the urgency [being shown] in this case, "said lead attorney Ali Ahmed Kurd out of court.

Another senior lawyer, Hamid Khan, said the process can wait if a judge is not available. He added that the 10-member bank had already been formed and the president of the court "does not have the authority" to set up another bank.

"If this happens, it will be an unconstitutional step," Khan said.

The former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Rasheed Rizvi, while speaking with journalists, said: "From the first day, it seems that these judges cannot wait to issue a verdict within two hours. Do they want to issue a verdict? before someone's retirement?

"There is a trial [which says] that once a bank is formed, it cannot be dissolved. The conduct of these judges clearly shows that there will be no justice, "he said.

PBC Vice President Amjad Ali Shah said that all the petitioners who filed appeals regarding the presidential references against Judge Isa were present today in court for the hearing, but the bank was dissolved due to the absence of a judge.

"We will have objections to any other bank except this one," he said. "We want this bank to hear the case. [It] have [already] held two hearings, "he said.