SC bench withdraws contempt notice against registrar official in jurisdiction row
The bench referred the matter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to deliberate whether a full court was needed to decide if contempt proceedings
Justice Shah observed, “The court has arrived at the conclusion that the additional registrar (judicial) did not deliberately violate the court orders.”
ISLAMABAD ( WEB NEWS )
Two Supreme Court judges on Monday withdrew a contempt notice issued a week ago against a senior staff member for not fixing a case regarding the jurisdiction of regular benches.
The decision came as a two-judge bench, comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, pronounced its verdict on contempt proceedings against Additional Registrar (Judicial) Nazar Abbas, who the court office removed on Tuesday.
The contempt notice had been issued when a case about whether SC’s regular benches could determine the constitutionality of the Constitution’s Article 191A — under which the constitutional bench was established after the 26th Amendment — was not fixed for hearing on January 20 as ordered by the bench.
During today’s hearing, Justice Shah observed, “The court has arrived at the conclusion that the additional registrar (judicial) did not deliberately violate the court orders.”
He further stated that neither the apex court find any proof that showed that the SC official had any personal interest in the case nor was any evidence found of any “ill intent”.
“There is no indication of mala fide intent in his actions,” stated a 20-page verdict issued by the court.
Subsequently, the senior puisne judge announced that the bench was withdrawing the show-cause notice over contempt of court against Abbas.
Justice Shah noted that the bench deliberated on two questions that had been framed earlier — one about delisting a case from a bench that it had already partially heard and the other about invalidating a court order through an administrative order.
Answering the first question, Justice Shah said the court concluded that such a case could not be taken back from the bench or delisted. About the second, he noted that a judicial order could not be nullified by an administrative order.
“It can be held unequivocally that no administrative authority, including the Committees constituted under Section 2 of the Act and 191A of the Constitution, can, by an administrative order, undo the effect of a judicial order,” the court judgment read.
Meanwhile, the bench referred the matter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to deliberate whether a full court was needed to decide if contempt proceedings were needed against two committees of the apex court.
Last week, Registrar Muhammad Saleem Khan had explained that the case was not fixed on January 20 because of two decisions — by the regular committee constituted under Section 2 of the SC Practice and Procedure Act, and the constitutional committee set up under Article 191(A)(4) of the Constitution.
Today’s order stated: “We find that it was the administrative decisions of the committees that illegally nullified the judicial orders and unlawfully deprived the regular bench of its judicial power to decide the jurisdictional question raised before it.”
The bench further said it appeared that the “matter has to proceed further against the members of the two committees” that had delisted the case from the regular bench.
However, terming the matter as serious and “warranting the collective and institutional deliberation” of all SC judges, the bench stressed: “Judicial propriety and decorum demand that the said question be considered and decided by the full court.”
It then referred the request to form a full court to CJP Afridi.
Moreover, the judges ordered that the main case during which the question of jurisdiction had been raised be fixed before the original three-member bench that was hearing it — comprising Justices Shah, Ayesha A. Malik, and Irfan Saadat Khan — in the first week of February.
The question of jurisdiction had arisen on January 13, when a three-judge bench led by Justice Shah heard the federal government’s petition against a Sindh High Court’s decision to strike down Section 221-A(2) of the Customs Act, 1969. The applicant had argued that the regular bench could not hear the case as it involved challenges to the constitutionality of laws.
During previous hearings, which also witnessed some changes in the bench, the SC had appointed four senior counsels as amici curiae to assist the court.