Chief Justice indicates technical difficulties in appellate bench

In quite an unprecedented move, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Tuesday spoke about the shortage of judges in the apex court, saying that three judges who were part of the bench that heard the contempt case against the prime minister would not be available if a review petition was filed.

He said, “Three of the nine existing members of the bench cannot hear the case due to some reasons. If an appeal is filed, then we will have six judges remaining”.

Hence, the top judge of the country, demanded two ad hoc judges and an additional judge, saying they would be appointed in the Supreme Court to ensure that a nine-member bench heard the appeal against the premier’s conviction.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of a new building of the Balochistan High Court’s bench in Sibi, the Chief Justice said a nine-member bench was necessary for the review petition, as a seven-judge bench had heard the contempt case.

Without revealing names of the unavailable judges, he did not specify the reasons of the unavailability. He observed, “At present, only six judges are available and in this situation we will have to induct three more judges to form a nine-member bench to conduct hearing if the government files an appeal”.

The top judge further said that under Articles 181 and 182 of the Constitution, additional and ad hoc judges could be inducted to form a larger bench, if needed.

According to the media reports, the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs was seized with a proposal for the appointment of Justice (Retd) Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui and Justice (Retd) Ghulam Rabbani as ad hoc judges and a sitting senior judge of the Lahore High Court as acting judge of the apex court.

On April 26, the Supreme Court of Pakistan found its Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani guilty of contempt for defying the court orders not to write a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen of graft cases against his boss, President Asif Ali Zardari.

The premier vowed to file an appeal against the apex court verdict as, according to him, a law for contempt of court does not exist in the country.

All graft cases dropped under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) introduced by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf stood reopened after the apex court nullified the controversial immunity law in a landmark ruling in December 2009.

Though most cases were reopened, the PPP-led government has so far been reluctant to reopen graft cases against President Zardari in Swiss courts saying that being head of the state he enjoys constitutional immunity.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on May 2 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.