Judges can’t challenge CJP’s constitution of benches: Justice Waheed

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 31 Mar 2023

Supreme Court’s Justice Shahid Waheed has released his dissenting note on the decision written by Justice Qazi Faiz Isa in the case of giving extra marks to Hafiz-e-Quran.

Justice Waheed says judges who sit on a bench following administrative orders of the chief justice of Pakistan cannot raise questions.

In his dissenting note on the three-judge SC bench that halted proceedings on all suo motu and constitutionally important cases, Justice Waheed wrote that the objection to formation of a bench could not be raised in the present case.

The chief justice of Pakistan constituted the bench administratively in accordance with the law.

“No party, including the attorney general, objected to the bench. No judge can object to the formation of a bench. If a judge objects to a bench, he becomes a complainant. If a judge becomes a complainant, he can neither conduct a hearing nor issue an order,” the note added.

The judge said the basic ethics of the judiciary fully support his view that one cannot be the judge of one’s own actions.

If a judge has an objection on a bench, he can recuse himself.

The note further says that the issue of Pemra’s ban on airing criticism of judges could also not be raised in the case. The dissenting note stated that no lawyer raised the issue of Pemra before the court, but was raised by a senior member of the bench.

No representative of Pemra was present in the court, nor was the authority given an opportunity to defend itself, it added, and said it was against the principles of justice.