CJP Isa hints at winding up ‘Practice and Procedure’ Act case today

A full court bench comprising 14 judges headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has resumed hearing  petitions challenging the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act on Tuesday.

State-run PTV is live-streaming the court’s proceedings.

The full court bench includes CJP Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, and Justice Musarrat Hilali.

At the previous court hearing, the full panel of judges in the apex court had requested responses from all involved parties by September 25th.

At the beginning of the hearing, Faez Isa said that the court will try to wind up hearings on the case today (Tuesday).

There are many cases already pending in the court, CJP added.

CJP Isa also directed the petitioner’s lawyer to end his arguments in 10 minutes.

The CJP stated that this legislation does not diminish the authority of the chief justice; instead, it distributes these powers among the judges.

He commented that this law will have a specific impact on the chief justice and the two most senior judges.

“When martial law is imposed, everyone surrenders their weapons. There are many pictures [of judges] in this room who forgot their oath after the imposition of martial law,” CJP Isa remarked after the lawyer read out the judges oath in the court.