The Supreme Court’s (SC) five-member bench was dissolved on Thursday after Justice Aminuddin Khan recused himself from hearing the PTI’s petition on the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone polls to the Punjab Assembly.
The bench, constituted by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, included Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Khan.
The top court was set to resume the hearing of PTI plea against the ECP decision to defer the elections in Punjab and Pakhtunkhwa at 11:30 but the hearing was delayed following Justice Amin-Ud-Din’s recused himself from the bench after a Supreme Court order halted proceedings under Article 184(3).
An SC bench headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Wednesday ordered the postponement of cases being heard under Article 184(3) of the Constitution till the amendments made in the Supreme Court Rules 1980 regarding the discretionary powers of the chief justice to form benches.
Justice Amin-Ud-Din concurred with Justice Isa while Justice Shahid Waheed dissented with the majority order of 2-1 in a suo moto case regarding the grant of 20 marks to Hafiz-e-Quran students while seeking admission to MBBS/BDS Degree under Regulation 9(9) of the MBBS and BDS (Admissions, House Job and Internship) Regulations, 2018.
At the outset of today’s hearing, when the five-member bench came to the courtroom, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial said Justice Amin wanted to say something.
“I recuse myself from the instant case in light of SC order issued by Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” the judge stated.
On March 1, the Supreme Court had said elections for the Punjab Assembly must be held within 90 days and that the date be announced by the president. However, the ECP decided to push Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa elections from April 30 to October 8, citing the deteriorating security situation in the country and the unavailability of finances and security personnel as reasons.
This was challenged by the PTI in court and a hearing began on Monday.
