The listening on the interpretations of Article 63 1p of the Constitution of Pakistan was delayed because Justice Muneeb Akhtar was not present in court.
The Supreme Court started the hearing with Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, Justice Amin Uddin, Justice Jamal Mandokhel, and Justice Mazhar Alam in the courtroom. However, Justice Muneeb Akhtar was absent.
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, demanded that Attorney General to come forward and tell him a large bench was formed to hear the case, which was previously handled by a five-member bench.
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa asked the Attorney General to come forward and said that a larger bench was formed to hear the case, which was previously handled by a five-member bench.
Justice Muneeb Akhtar who was not present in the court sent a letter to the Supreme Court registrar. The Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa read the letter.
In the letter, Justice Muneeb explained that he is not refusing to listen the case. But when a bench is created, any refusal to sit must happen in court. He further added that he cannot be part of the bench formed by the Practice and Procedure Committee, but he is not refusing to take part in the case.
The Additional Attorney General asked the court to reconvene the bench on Tuesday. Barrister Ali Zafar raised concerns, saying the committee can only form a bench if all three members are present.
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa noted that it’s not typical to include letters like this in the court’s records and that Justice Muneeb’s letter would not be part of the court file. He added that Justice Muneeb should be present in the court for participation and have to give his opinions, the case has been pending for more than 2 years.
Furthermore, the Chief Justice also identified the importance of Article 63 1p and also said that if a judge does not want to take part he must have to visit the court and tell the reason for it. He also said he respected Justice Muneeb’s thoughts but requested him to rejoin, so the bench would be again reformed and listening or hearing of the court started.
The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing until 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
