A ruling by Justice Qazi Faez Isa ordering the deferral of suo motu proceedings until the Supreme Court Rules of 1980 addressing the chief justice's discretionary powers to establish benches was "disregarded" by the Supreme Court in a circular issued on Friday.
In paragraphs 11 to 22 and 26 to 28, the majority ruling made observations outside the scope of the case that was before the court, and the CJP Umar Ata Bandial stated that this "invokes its suo motu authority."
Interestingly, the Supreme Court issued the circular hours before a four-member bench was to begin considering the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election delay case.
As stated in the circular, unilateral assumption of judicial power in this way violated the rule laid down in a five-member judgment.
"Article 184(3) of the Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice may exercise this power in the case of a proposal from an honorable judge or a knowledgeable bench of the court. As stated in the circular, the majority ruling disregards binding law established by a larger bench of the Court."
"Any observations made in the aforementioned decision, including those regarding the fixation or otherwise of cases, are to be ignored. In conclusion, the circular concluded," "Therefore, the Registrar is requested to publish a circular detailing the aforementioned legal position for everyone's information."
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