Islamabad:
Judge Jamal Khan Commandkhail, who is also a member of a committee that forms Constitutional Banks (CBS) of the Supreme Court, has asked questions about the absence of rules that regulate the practice and procedure of the CBS.
During the hearing in the case of the seats reserved on Monday, Judge Commandkhail asked the lawyer that Sic Faisal Siddiqi read the provisions of article 191a, which were inserted through the 26th constitutional amendment of 2024.
The lawyer read article 191 (6), which says that despite anything contained in the Constitution, but subject to the law, judges nominated under clause (1) can make rules that regulate the practice and procedure of the CBS.
This provision reflects that CB judges will frame the rules regarding the regulation of banks.
However, Judge Aminuddin Khan replied that the word “May” has been used in that provision, which shows that the rules framework is not mandatory.
Monday’s hearing in the case of the reserved seats reflects that the CB committee comprising Judge Aminuddin Khan, Judge Jamal Khan Commandkhail and Judge Muhammad Ali Mazahar divide on the issue of reducing the rules for CBS.
According to the press release of November 20 of the Supreme Court, the SC registry had the task of preparing the draft rules that regulate the practice and procedures of the CBS in consultation with Judge Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and the committee for approval will review it.
However, it is not clear if the SC registrar shared the rules proposed with the Committee for Final Approval. The committee constituted by virtue of article 191a (4) of the Constitution had called its third meeting on November 13, 2024 under the presidency of Judge Aminuddin Khan.
The meeting, which was attended by Judge Commandkhail, Judge Mazhar and the SC registration, had deliberated on several critical issues aimed at improving the efficiency and transparency of case management, particularly for the CBS.
The lawyers are already raising their voice for the absence of rules for the nomination of judges to the CBS, as well as the Constitution of the CBS, as mentioned in article 191a (6) of the Constitution.
The CJP Yahya Afridi, in its capacity as president of the JCP, on March 3, formed a committee to write an objective criterion to select judges for the CBS under clause (4) of article 175-A and for the selection of judges for the CBS under articles 191-A and 202-A.
Judge Commandkhail directs the committee. It is not clear if the committee has finished its rules. It has been seen that, in the absence of rules, some SC judges, who are not in the good books of the Executive, have been excluded from the CBS.
Three Judges of Senior, CJP Afridi, Judge Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Judge Munib Akhtar, are excluded from the CBS for no reason. Even Judge Commandkhail expressed on Monday that all judges were nominated for banks.
If all the judges are included in the CBS, the composition of the CB Committee will also change and the current members will become irrelevant. Now has begun a debate about why some judges are showing reluctance to support the nomination of all SC judges for constitutional banks.
There has even been any explanation to exclude the six judges who were part of the original bank who heard the case of the lightest bank review requests in the case. To guarantee transparency, there is a need for the rules to be framed for nominations and the constitution of the CBS
Now all the eyes are in the largest bank of 11 members to see if it accepts or rejects the objections to the bank that does not include the judges, who were part of the previous bank without any valid reason.
Some lawyers believe that the CB Committee should at least nominate these six judges in the case of the reserved seats of the largest bank hearing. At least the committee must change the load and send the matter to the JCP.
He witnessed that the bank was not properly constituted in the case of article 63a. Now PTI’s lawyers accuse that the reversal of the sentence on the interpretation of article 63a of the Constitution had provided facilitation to the Executive to approve the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
