ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan removed the Additional Registrar (Judicial) on account of serious lapse in fixing the cases which were required to be placed before the Constitutional Bench and mistakenly fixed before the regular bench.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, on January 20 had issued a contempt notice to Additional Registrar Nazar Abbas for not fixing an appeal of the federation through Revenue Division against the Sindh High Court (SHC)’s decision to strike down Section 221-A (2) of the Customs Act, 1969.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by Public Relations Officer, Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi directed the Registrar Supreme Court to look into the matter and dedicate more resources for early completion of the scrutiny of the pending cases in order to avoid inconvenience to the litigants and legal community.
Not fixing case before regular bench: SC issues contempt notice to additional registrar judicial
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.
It 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 was challenged. Based on this, the jurisdiction of the bench was contested.
Subsequently, the cases were adjourned to 16th January 2025. Realising 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 January 2025 under the chairmanship of the chief justice of Pakistan (Justice Yahya Afridi). The committee noted that clause 3 of Article 191A of the Constitution 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 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 today (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 was 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.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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