Contempt case: Objections raised over Justices Mandokhail, Mazhar’s inclusion in ICA bench

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ISLAMABAD: Senior Judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court has objected to the inclusion of Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhil and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar in the larger bench to hear the intra-court appeal filed in the bench jurisdiction.

In his letter to the judges’ committee, Justice Shah said: “Judges who have a conflict of interest in the matter cannot sit on the bench. Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhil and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar are members of the committee. who took up the matter of CPLA No. 836-5/2020 and fixed it on 27-1-2025 before the Constitution Bench.

The case is related to the erroneous disposition of cases – including a challenge to the validity of the Customs Act, 1969 – by Additional Registrar (Judicial) Nazar Abbas, who decided the Supreme Court Constitution Bench instead of a regular process. Wrong matters were decided.

The case is related to the erroneous disposition of cases – including a challenge to the validity of the Customs Act, 1969 – by Additional Registrar (Judicial) Nazar Abbas, who decided the Supreme Court Constitution Bench instead of a regular process. Wrong matters were decided.

Subsequently, a two-judge bench comprising Justice Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi issued a show cause notice to Abbas.

The additional registrar filed a reply to the show cause notice in the court, seeking its withdrawal and stating that there was no disobedience of the court order, the court reserved its judgment in contempt of court.

Abbs then filed against the show-cause notice issued against him by an ICA for contempt of court and prayed the SC to stay the proceedings against him pending the decision of the intra-court appeal. Stop ongoing contempt proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court constituted a six-member large bench, headed by Justice Mandukil, which will hear Abbas’s case on January 27 (Monday) at 1 pm.

This bench also includes Justice Mazhar, Justice Athar Mainullah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Vaid, and Justice Musrat Hilali.

However, Justice Shah has now objected to the six-member bench, saying that Justice Mandukhil and Justice Mazhar “cannot be members of the bench as the decisions of both the committees are in question in contempt proceedings”.

In his letter, the senior Poisson judge noted that he had raised his objection to the judicial roster issued by the Registrar after the approval of two members of the committee constituted under the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 via WhatsApp. told

The judge recalled that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi had convened an informal huddle – after a meeting of the committee of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan – in his chambers.

During the meeting, the CJP, Justice Shah and the head of the Constitution Bench, Justice Aminuddin Dean Khan, attended. A bench of five members in order of seniority excluding those who cannot hear the appeal due to conflict of interest.

“Later in the night, I received a WhatsApp message from my secretary at 9:33 pm seeking approval for the proposed six-member bench. [….] I told my secretary that I will attend it tomorrow as I have some objections.

However, at 10:28 pm, I was informed by my secretary that the bench has been constituted and the roster issued by a majority decision of the committee,” Justice Shah’s letter read.

Continuing his objections, the judge said he did not get an opportunity to record his opinion on the file as the original file was never sent to his office and the majority decided the matter on its own and issued the roster.

“Therefore, I desire that this note be placed on the record of the judgment dated 23-1-2025 in which the aforesaid larger bench will be constituted.”