More than four months since its training, the Constitutional Bank has not yet delivered failures on critical cases, which raises concerns about judicial inertia.
On November 4, 2024, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) nominated eight judges for the Constitutional Bank for a majority vote, with members backed by the government who play a decisive role in the selection.
It was widely expected that the bank, led by Judge Aminuddin Khan, governed about the trial of civilians in the military courts. However, although conditionally it allowed military courts to issue verdicts in cases related to May 9 incidents, the bank has not yet completed the procedures, despite holding 46 hearings.
The case will resume next month, with the lawyer of the Ministry of Defense Khawaja Haris stating that it requires at least eight more hearings to complete its refutation.
In addition, the Constitutional Bank has not been able to occupy two other crucial cases due to prolonged hearings in the case of military courts.
In January, a bank led by Judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah raised the question of whether a regular bank could be prohibited to hearing matters related to the interpretation of the law and the Constitution.
Subsequently, the Constitutional Bank Committee scheduled audiences for requests that challenge the 26th amendment on January 28.
However, the Constitutional Bank of eight members held only one hearing before postponing the matter for three weeks. More than 50 days have passed since then, and the case has not yet been scheduled for more procedures.
Similarly, another key case remains pending, the dispute over the age of the judges of the Superior Court of Islamabad (IHC).
Five IHC judges have challenged the transfer of three judges from different courts higher than IHC. They have requested the Supreme Court, seeking to claim their age, which was altered after transfers.
The dispute turns particularly around Judge Sarfraz Dogar of the Superior Court of Lahore (LHC), who became the senior judge of Puisne, replacing Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.
The petitioners argue that the age of the transferred judges should be determined only after making a new oath. Several associations of lawyers have also challenged these transfers, and PTI has presented a constitutional request on the same issue.
While these requests have been assigned, they have not yet been scheduled for audiences.
Legal experts believe that keeping the status quo in these crucial cases plays in the hands of the Executive.
The military courts have already issued a trial, and the defendant now meets their sentences: Case closed, at least for now.
Meanwhile, with the 26th amendment implemented without problems, the government does not see any pressing need to stir the pot.
Similarly, the Government Plan for the IHC is developing without wrinkles. Judge Sardar Sarfraz Dogar sustains the fort as the president of the Supreme Court of IHC, already different from the past, the administration is not found with obstacles in this front.
The Karachi Lawyers Association, through the lawyer Faisal Siddiqi, has also challenged the transfer of the three judges to the IHC.
The 26th amendment grants exclusive authority in the Constitutional Bank to interpret the law and the Constitution, prohibiting regular banks of exercising jurisdiction in this regard.
However, the Constitutional Bank has not yet weighed at any legal point since November last year, with concerns that it was time for the Bank to establish jurisprudence in matters of public interest.
Experts have argued that to control the judicial overreach, the Constitutional Bank must draw clear lines for the exercise of the jurisdiction of public interest under article 184 (3) of the Constitution.
