Justice Mansoor Ali Shah declines to join the special bench.

Senior puisne judge said, he has no urge to be part of the bench and the reasons he stated in his previous letter still stand valid in his opinion.

• Justice Mansoor restates that his agreement is subject to participation of the ordinary litigants.

• Senior Most Head of the Bench asks for the previous committee to be put back into place.

• He further remarks that the ordinary people will be given ample regard and respect.

ISLAMABAD: In a letter addressed to Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah informed Justice Mansoor, Uh i do not want to be a part of that special bench which was set up by the said committee under the (Practice and Procedure Act), 2023.

While raising an objection, he stated the reasons for which he does not wish to participate in the activities are the same which he wrote to the Secretary of the Committee on 23 September in 2022.

Earlier letter from the Senior Most Head of the Bench explained his thoughts according to him about the mode of Operation of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure Act) of 2023, which would govern the top court, its benches formation etc.

The above stated ordinance was Assented to in September this year and in it, the chief justice has to recommend any member of the bench that he/she wish to assist him in the committee that is formed diversifying the benches. It was stated in the ordinance that this committee structure shall be: Chief Justice, the most senior member of the Judge and the Judge member Judith will recommend.

Justice Mansoor was of the view that the practice of 'cherry-picking' ought to have been avoided. He was also against excluding Justice Munib Akhtar from the stated committee.He had said within few hours after the ordinance was promulgated the judges committee was re-formed and Justice Munib met with the glory of being excluded from the composition of the jury.

This, he had said few days after CJP Isa had appoint Vice-Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan into the three-vote ceremony wish without Vice-Justice Munib few hours after the new practice law was published.

With his letter, Justice Mansoor sought an explanation for the exclusion of the second senior most member of the committee Judge Akhtar, who has apparently resigned himself from it. “In assessing the seniority, there was no reason given as to why this is how sonority was arranged and as to why the committee members were advanced in such an unquestionable style..”

“In view of the objectives of the Act, it was expected that such lamentable cherry picking and machoistic tendencies would be rendered extinct, a line of reasoning that this court through its Full Court Bench appears to have consistent with in Raja Amer,” he wrote.

In reaction to what Justice Mansoor has exactly outlined in is letter, CJ Isa on this very date, September 26 issued 11 reasons in support of their actions taken.

Legal complexities aside, the CJP knew that he was not in any violation as there is no law that seeks to pinpoint why he suggested a committee member who was a judge. However, he held the view that because it is how he “ever believed in accountability and transparency in any matter,” the chief justice offered the reasoning for taking his action Sayani.

In this regard, let it be known that the desired action has been confirmed in writing by both parties with more than the indefinite terms they already agreed on. For the special bench, Justice Mansoor made his participation conditional by stating that “Unless the full court bench whether the promulgated ordinance was valid legally or the features of the amendment or the other features of the amendment passed through friction in the full bench of the sc, I would not participate in special benches formed by the new committee rather I will attend sitting of the regular benches to listen to the cases of common litigants in larger public interest”.

In that sense, he was clear that he must disassociate from the bench that has been constituted in this matter which he further explained as the bench was moved for hearing for the reasons mentioned.

He stated: “That reminds me of a moment in A Man For All Seasons in which Sir Thomas More said, ‘I think that when statesmen forsake their private conscience and default to their public duties, the chaos gets within this country in quite quicker fashion’.”

Adding on, he commented, “When we are in a position of power, it is easy to conceive that the citizens of this nation are turning up the heat and I will also add that history is still unforgiving.”