SC proceeds against the Additional Registrar (Judicial) on account of lapse; issues removal order
CJP directs the Registrar SC to dedicate more resources for early completion of the scrutiny of pending cases
These cases were required to be fixed before the Constitutional Bench but were mistakenly fixed before the regular Bench of the SC
The contempt of court case involving the Additional Registrar, being heard by the Supreme Court under the leadership of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, has been de-listed.
ISLAMABAD ( WEB NEWS )
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has removed the Additional Registrar (Judicial) on account of serious lapse and the Registrar has been directed to look into the matter. The issue involves mismanagement in fixation of cases. CPLA Nos. 836-K to 887-K, 951-K, 1056-K of 2020 and 741-K to 743-K of 2021 and 165-K of 2022, are bunch of cases where the vires of Custom Act, 1969 were challenged. These cases were required to be fixed before the Constitutional Bench but were mistakenly fixed before the regular
Bench of the Supreme Court, consequently, it led to wastage of time, resources of the institution as well as the parties.
Briefly it is stated that the mentioned cases were fixed before a regular Bench of three Judges. The cases were heard on 13th January 2025 where in addition to merit of the case, the constitutionality of sub section 2 of section 11A of the Customs Act were challenged. Based on this, the jurisdiction of the Bench was contested.
Subsequently, the cases were adjourned to 16th January 2025. Realizing the serious lapse on their part, the Judicial Branch through a note approached the regular Committee under section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023. Keeping in view the serious nature of lapse the Committee convened on 17th of January 2025 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The Committee noted that clause 3 of Article 191A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic Pakistan read with clause 5 of Article 191A of the Constitution expressly vests such jurisdiction in the Constitutional Bench and none other. The Committee therefore withdrew these cases from the regular Bench and directed that the same should be placed before the Constitutional Bench Committee constituted under Article 191A of the Constitution for re-fixation. The regular Committee also directed that in future all cases falling under Article 191A of the Constitution shall be placed before the Constitutional Bench Committee constituted under Article 191A of the Constitution irrespective of any order passed by a regular Bench. The regular Committee directed the Registrar of the Supreme Court to expedite the process of scrutiny of all pending cases as well as due diligence of the case daily instituted in this court to avoid repetition of such lapses. It is worthy to mention that the Constitutional Bench Committee also met on 17th of January 2025 and decided to fix all cases challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment and vires of laws. Therefore, a Constitutional Bench comprising eight Judges will hear these petitions on 27th January 2025.
In the meanwhile, the regular Bench consisting of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi heard on Tuesday the contempt proceeding initiated against the Additional Registrar (Judicial). However, on account of sick leave of the Additional Registrar (Judicial), the Registrar Supreme Court, Muhammad Salim Khan, appeared before the Bench. He pleaded that the fixation of the cases were on account of mistake which is being examined. He also contended that delisting of the cases before this Bench was not based on malicious intent of the Additional Registrar. Instead, it was a bona fide act taken in compliance with the direction of the regular Committee.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan issued removal order of the Additional Registrar (Judicial). The Chief Justice of Pakistan directed the Registrar Supreme Court to dedicate more resources for early completion of the scrutiny of the pending cases in order to avoid inconvenience to the litigants and legal community.
The two-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and comprising Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, has de-listed the contempt of court case involving the Additional Registrar. A notice regarding the de-listing of the case was issued by the Registrar’s Office. As a result of the de-listing, the case will not be heard in the Supreme Court today (Wednesday). Initially, the Registrar’s Office had issued a supplementary cause list for Wednesday, which included the cases of several benches, including that of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah. However, a short while later, a notice was issued regarding the de-listing of some of the cases included in the supplementary cause list.
The supplementary cause list included cases for benches headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Musarrat Hilali, and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood. It is noteworthy that on January 20, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, along with Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Aqeel Abbasi, issued a contempt of court show-cause notice to the Additional Judicial Registrar for not listing a case concerning Article 191-A before their bench as per the order. The bench had stated that the case should have been scheduled before their bench, as directed by the order, but the cause list had not been issued. The bench questioned how the judicial order of January 16 could be ignored and noted that they had also been informed that all tax-related cases before this bench had been cancelled. A research officer would now decide which cases would be sent to the constitutional bench, and the judicial order had been disregarded by the Judges’ Committee.
Later, a two-member bench consisting of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Abbasi was formed, and the case was scheduled for hearing. The Additional Registrar Judicial, Nazir Abbas, was dismissed from his post for serious negligence. The three judges of the bench also wrote separate letters to Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Yahya Afridi, and to Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, the head of the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench, regarding the matter of the bench’s powers. In Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah’s letter, it was revealed that despite receiving an invitation, he had refrained from attending the Practice and Procedure Committee meeting on January 17, stating that he was unaware of the meeting. He wrote in the letter that there was no need for him to appear before the Judges’ Committee because the Committee could have formed the previous bench and scheduled the hearing for January 20. He described the failure to schedule the case as tantamount to disregarding the judicial order.
During the hearing, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Abbasi appointed senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Senator Hamid Khan, as well as former President of the Supreme Court Bar and former Attorney General Munir Ahmad Malik, as judicial assistants in the contempt of court case involving the Additional Registrar (Judicial) of the Supreme Court.