Justice Mansoor Ali Shah shows reservations over Practice, Procedure ordinance
Pakistan
The move will be against the respect of judiciary, says senior SC judge
By Muhammad Ashfaq
LAHORE (Special Report) – Supreme Court’s senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah on Monday wrote a letter to judges’ committee while also showing severe reservations over recently promulgated Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance.
Justice Shah in his letter said that the full court had discouraged the intervention of parliament in the domain of judiciary.
“Any amendment in the Practice and Procedure Act can only be done by the full court,” said Justice Shah.
He added that he would not participate in the meetings until the committee is restored in its original composition.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa had appointed Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan to the three-member judges' committee, excluding Justice Munib Akhtar hours after the promulgation of the ordinance.
“No reasons were given why the next senior most judge was ignored and instead, the fourth senior most judge was nominated as a member of the Committee,” he said in the letter.
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He added that an ordinance was promulgated instead of amendment in the act through parliament amid the ongoing judicial crisis.
This move will be against the respect of judiciary, he added.
“Such unfortunate cherry picking and undemocratic display of one-man show are precisely what the Act tried to discourage,” said Justice Shah.
“Until the constitutional validity of the amendments made by the amending Ordinance is determined by the Full Court Bench of this Court, or the judges of this Court resolve to act upon the amendments in a Full Court meeting on the administrative side, I, with respect, regret that I cannot participate in the meetings of the Committee,” he concluded.
