Islamabad: Supreme Court's senior-most judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah issued a show-cause notice to Additional Registrar Nazar Abbas and summoned him in person today (Tuesday) over "non-scheduling" of a case regarding the powers of benches.
The hearing, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah as part of a three-member bench including Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, addressed the constitutional and regular bench powers case.
Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, representing one of the parties, appeared before the court and informed that he traveled from Karachi solely for this case, yet the cause list was not issued, despite court's orders to schedule the case for Monday.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah remarked that the court was not informed about the matter and directed the immediate summoning of the additional registrar to clarify the delay.
During the hearing, Deputy Registrar Zulfiqar Ahmed appeared and explained that the additional registrar was on leave due to ill health. Justice Shah questioned why the court's directive to schedule the case was not followed.
The deputy registrar responded that the Judges Committee had decided to schedule the case related to amendments on Jan 27 before the constitutional bench. Justice Shah expressed surprise, stating that as a committee member, he was unaware of such a decision.
Justice Ayesha Malik questioned how an administrative committee could ignore a judicial order and inquired why the week's cause list was changed, noting that tax cases were originally scheduled.
During the hearing, Justice Ayesha Malik remarked, "In my entire judicial career, I have never witnessed a case disappearing in this manner."
Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi added that all individuals, including the Chief Justice, are bound by court orders. In response, Deputy Registrar Zulfiqar Ahmed informed the bench that the meeting minutes from the Judges Committee had not yet been received.
The court directed the submission of the Judges Committee's order and meeting minutes, and demanded any written instructions related to the changes in the cause list.
Issuing a show-cause notice to the additional registrar, the court ordered an explanation for why the case was not scheduled as directed. The hearing was adjourned until today (Tuesday), with the additional registrar summoned in person.