Police officers walk past Pakistan’s Supreme Court building, in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Supreme Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Monday also quipped about the proposed Federal Constitutional Court, saying that if they were faced with a difficult issue, they would refer it to the Federal Constitutional Court.
Justice Shah was hearing a case related to the promotion of Dr Azam Ali, an official associated with the Punjab Animal Husbandry Department. The case was heard by a two-member bench comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Abbasi.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that his client had been overlooked while promoting junior officers. Justice Shah asked the counsel to prove, through documents, that junior officers had indeed been promoted while the petitioner was ignored.
Then the judge joked: “If there is a very difficult issue, we will send it to the Federal Constitutional Court; anyway, we are defenseless people here.” The courtroom erupted in laughter at his comments. The Supreme Court later dismissed the petition.
Even before the adoption of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, speculation has begun about where the Federal Constitutional Court, the formation of which is proposed under the amendment package, will be established.
On November 7, members of a five-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court also made comments and exchanged interesting observations regarding the proposed amendment that the ruling PML-N will soon introduce in Parliament, without even naming it.
The CB, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, was hearing a case related to civil service norms.
During the hearing, when Justice Khan asked if the case could be concluded that day, lawyer Faisal Siddiqi asked for it to be decided quickly as he did not want to discuss it in the Federal Shariat Court building, where the new court is speculated to be set up.
