ISLAMABAD: A legal situation has arisen after the court order by Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and Justice Aminuddin Khan to suspend Article 183/3 cases till the formulation of rules. It is being asked whether a five-member bench of the Supreme Court will adjourn the hearing of PTI’s petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to postpone the Punjab Assembly elections till October and whether the court order for the Chief Justice of Pakistan. is bound?
Various senior lawyers told this correspondent on condition of anonymity that even judges are bound by court orders unless they are suspended or revoked.
The lawyers cited the example of the Supreme Court bench in Quetta which had given its order in 1997 against the then Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah. The bench consisted of Justice Irshad Hasan Khan, Justice Khalilur Rehman and Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid. After this, Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah sought an injunction through the second bench. However, in the subsequent situation, he had to leave the office of Chief Justice.
Legal experts cited a precedent whereby Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Jamal Mandokhail had passed an order under Section 184(3) on a petition against harassment of journalists. Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Atta Bandial, who was acting Chief Justice at the time, suspended the injunction after constituting a five-member bench. Later, the same bench gave the power of automatic notice to the Chief Justice.
Interestingly, legal experts say that Justice Aminuddin Khan, a member of the bench that passed the order, is also a part of the five-member bench hearing PTI’s petition.
He said that the matter has become complicated as the legal community is waiting to see what stand Justice Aminuddin takes regarding the order. On the legal side, experts said that the Chief Justice is also bound by the order because he is a judge like other judges. He added that he was a step above other judges only because of his administrative powers as Chief Justice.
