Supreme Court senior judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah expressed on Saturday strong objections regarding the formation of the six-member bench for an intra-court appeal.
His concerns arose after an informal meeting of the judges' committee on January 23, during which he proposed the formation of a five-member bench, based on seniority, excluding those who were members of the committee.
According to the chief justice, a four-member bench would have been sufficient. However, at 10:28 pm that night, Justice Shah's secretary informed him that the six-member bench had been formed, and its roster had already been issued.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah raised his objections in a written statement, stating that he disagreed with the inclusion of Justices Jamal Mandokhel and Muhammad Ali Mazhar in the larger bench.
He pointed out that both judges were members of the constitutional committee, and thus, their participation in the bench formed to hear a case related to the committee’s powers was highly questionable.
Justice Shah stressed that it was inappropriate for members of the committee to sit as judges on the very decisions they had made within the committee.
He also stated that his objections should be recorded as part of the official record.
