Supreme Court Judge Justice Muneeb Akhtar wrote a letter to the Registrar Supreme Court regarding not joining the bench hearing Article 63A.
During the hearing, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa read the letter of Justice Muneeb Akhtar.
Justice Muneeb Akhtar has written in the letter that I am not apologizing for hearing the case, the Practice Procedure Committee has formed a bench, I cannot be a part of the bench formed by the committee, the non-joining of the bench should not be misunderstood. My letter should be made part of the revised case record.
The Chief Justice said that it is not a tradition to make such a letter a part of the court record, Justice Munib’s letter cannot be a part of the court file, it would have been appropriate for him to come to the bench and give his opinion, I always encouraged dissenting opinion. Yes, the revision case has been pending for more than 2 years, the 63A case is very important, the judge refuses to hear the case in the court, and the opinion of Justice Muneeb Akhtar is respected, once the bench is formed, then Excuse from hearing the case can be done only in court.
The Additional Attorney General requested that the bench sit again tomorrow.
PTI’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar expressed reservations on the committee saying that the committee can form a bench only when all three members are present.
Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that the law requires that the same bench will hear the revision appeal. will request to sit on the bench.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa requested Justice Muneeb Akhtar to join the bench and said that he would try to bring Justice Muneeb Akhtar back to the bench otherwise the bench would be reconstituted. Will join, Justice Muneeb Akhtar join the bench or not, in both cases, the case will be heard tomorrow.
After this, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the appeals for review of the decision of Article 63 A interpretation till 11:30 tomorrow.