On Monday, Justice Ijazul Ahsan expressed reservations about the composition of benches assigned to hear appeals related to the Supreme Court’s decision on military trials of civilians and petitions filed by Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi challenging a show-cause notice issued to him.
In a letter addressed to the secretary of the three-member committee responsible for forming Supreme Court benches, Justice Ahsan raised concerns about the process following the court’s endorsement of a law regulating its affairs.
A six-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, is scheduled to hear intra-court appeals on Dec 13 against the Oct 23 unanimous verdict, which declared the trial of 103 civilians in military courts for their alleged involvement in the May 9 violence as unconstitutional.
In the letter, Justice Ahsan referred to a committee meeting on December 7, where he proposed a seven-member bench for the appeals against the military trials verdict to ensure fairness and dispel any perception of favoritism. Although Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Isa agreed to this, it was also agreed that if any judge declined to participate, the next available judge in seniority would be included.
Justice Ahsan expressed disappointment that he received no information about the composition of the benches despite making multiple inquiries. He emphasized that he did not receive the minutes of the fourth or fifth meeting over the weekend, and the uploaded minutes failed to accurately reflect the discussions and opinions during those meetings.
The judge asserted that the special benches were not formed or presented to the committee for approval. He deplored the notification of a six-member bench to hear the case, despite the earlier agreement on a seven-member bench.
Justice Ahsan highlighted that the three-member bench formed to hear pleas under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution did not adhere to the principle of seniority, which had been agreed upon for transparency and to uphold the court’s dignity.
Concluding the letter, Justice Ahsan stated that he wrote it to set the record straight and requested its immediate upload on the Supreme Court website. Copies of the letter were sent to CJP Isa and the other Supreme Court judges.
