Islamabad:
After a gap of more than two months, the Constitutional Bank (CB) of the Supreme Court will resume the work of September 8. The last hearing was held on June 27, when the Bank revoked a previous SC sentence that was entitled to the PTI to reserved seats.
According to the Court list, a CB of five judges led by Judge Aminuddin Khan will hear issues related to the interpretation of the law and the Constitution from September 8 to 12. It is expected that the Bank itself will also resume the procedures in the case of super taxes.
Since November of last year, the CB has not been able to decide the fate of the 26th constitutional amendment. In January, the bank took the matter, but postponed it for three weeks, and the case has not been heard since then.
Interestingly, CB’s very creation is under challenge. Questions have been raised about how the beneficiaries of the 26th constitutional amendment can decide their own future.
The dynamics of the Apex court has changed since then. Eight new judges have been elevated to the Supreme Court since February, most of which are now included in the CBS. Currently, 15 judges have been nominated for the CBS. However, even after ten months, they have not framed rules for their regulation.
Article 191a (6) establishes that, despite anything contained in the Constitution, but subject to the law, the judges nominated under clause (1) can make the rules regulate the practice and procedure of the CBS.
This provision shows that they are the judges of CBs who must frame the rules. Judge Jamal Khan Commandkhail also raised this problem during the reserved seat.
Until now, the CB has issued three key decisions.
To the exercise of the review jurisdiction, it annulled an previous SC verdict with the right to the PTI to reserved seats. He supported the PTI activist trial in the military courts and confirmed the transfer of judges of several courts superior to the Superior Court of Islamabad (IHC), a process initiated by the Executive.
However, detailed judgments are still expected in the three cases, crucial for the independence of the Judiciary, fundamental rights and democracy. Two minority judges have issued detailed opinions in the case of military courts, but the majority sentence has been pending since May 7.
The CB could also issue a detailed decision on the objections of the Sunita Ittehad Council to the composition of bank audience review requests in the case of the reserved seats.
Meanwhile, IHC judges have challenged the majority decision that supported the transfers to the IHC, and their intra-couurt appeal (Ica) is expected to be listed in the next judicial year.
The observers indicate that the delay in the award of the requests against the 26th Constitutional amendment will further erode public confidence, especially because the concerns are already being raised about the exclusion of the dissident judges of the CB.
