SC constitutional benches to 'start hearing cases' from November 14

ISLAMABAD: Constitutional benches of the Supreme Court (SC) will start hearing cases from November 14 (Thursday), ARY News reported, citing sources.

As per details, the decision was taken in a meeting of the 7-member constitutional bench formed by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan.

Senior Supreme Court judge Justice Aminuddin Khan headed the meeting, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar attended the meeting on virtual link, the sources said.

The committee meeting last for an hour and it was decided to start hearing the cases before constitutional benches from November 14.

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi appointed Justice Aminuddin as head of the constitutional bench by a majority of 7-5 members.

The JCP formed a seven-member constitutional bench including Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Ayesha Malik from Punjab, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Jamal Mandokhel from Balochistan.

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Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi from Sindh, and Justice Musarrat Hilali from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also been nominated as members of the constitutional bench.

The sources said that CJP Yahya Afridi, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar and PTI members Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz opposed the constitutional bench’s formation. However the decision was made with a majority of votes.

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan meeting was attended by senior Puisne Judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Aminuddin Khan, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Pakistan Bar Council’s representative Advocate Akhtar Hussain, Pakistan People’s Party’s Farooq H Naik, PML-N’s Shaikh Aftab Ahmed and Roshan Khurshid Barrucha.