On Monday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan withdrew a contempt notice issued a week ago against a senior court official, Additional Registrar (Judicial) Nazar Abbas, in connection with a jurisdictional dispute regarding regular benches. The bench, consisting of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, concluded that there was no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing or personal interest on Abbas’s part.
The contempt notice had been issued after the case concerning the jurisdiction of the regular benches over the constitutionality of Article 191A of the Constitution was not scheduled for hearing as instructed on January 20. The case revolved around whether regular benches could address issues related to constitutional amendments, specifically following the 26th Amendment, which led to the establishment of the constitutional bench.
During the hearing, Justice Shah clarified that the bench had deliberated on two main issues: the process of delisting cases and the potential invalidation of court orders through administrative means. He emphasized that no evidence of personal interest or ill intent had been found in the actions of the additional registrar. As a result, the show-cause notice was withdrawn.
Earlier, Registrar Muhammad Saleem Khan had explained that the delay in fixing the case was due to decisions made by two committees: the regular committee under Section 2 of the SC Practice and Procedure Act and the constitutional committee under Article 191(A)(4).
In a separate matter, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of pleas against the 26th Amendment for three weeks. An eight-judge constitutional bench, led by Justice Aminuddin Khan, took up challenges related to the amendment, issuing notices to respondents and considering requests for a full court hearing and live-streaming of proceedings. The case will be revisited in three weeks.
