Four Judges of the Supreme Court have raised objections on the promulgation of the rules of the 2025 Supreme Court without prior deliberations or the approval of the complete court.
In a joint note, Judges Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Ayesha A Malik and Athar Minallah criticized the procedure, qualifying it as “fallacious” and contrary to the constitutional requirements. They pointed out that the rules were notified on August 9, 2025, as “approved”, but within three days, the president of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi convened a complete court to seek suggestions for amendments.
The judges said that this sequence tacitly admitted that the full court is the correct forum for such decisions, but was only involved after unilateral approval.
They emphasized that the rules should have been submitted to the complete court in its entirety for genuine discussion and approval, instead of after the fact.
Criticizing the process to add only “a sheet of legitimacy” to an invalid exercise, the judges urged that the complete court meeting is not reduced to a “cosmetic role.”
They also asked that their objections be registered in the minutes and that the procedures are public in the interest of transparency.
The judges emphasized that public confidence and trust rest in transparency in constitutional institutions, warning that no court can function without legitimacy based on it.
Read: The Supreme Court has modernized rules of 2025
Previously, the Apex court had formally published the rules of the Supreme Court 2025, replacing the rules of the 1980 Supreme Court, in what the Court described as its commitment to modernization and digitalization, and to provide procedural clarity in the online justice system with the global governance of the law.
Framed under article 191 of the Constitution, the new rules replaced the “outdated provisions” and put judicial procedures with contemporary legal, constitutional and technological developments. According to a press release issued by the SC last week, the rules came in an immediate effect.
The new rules were framed by a committee formed by CJP Afridi. The Committee was composed of four SC judges: Judge Shahid Waheed, Judge Irfan Saadat Khan, Judge Naeem Akhter Afghan and Judge Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.
