Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court’s Justice Ayesha Malik has written a letter to Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, raising the red flag over the IT Department’s failure to upload her dissenting order in the reserved seats case.
In the letter, Justice Malik stated that both she and Justice Aqeel Abbasi disagreed with majority verdict and issued their order at 3:11pm on Thursday. However, the IT department did not upload it, she said.
She added that even after a follow-up, officials claimed they “could not” upload the order. Calling the non-compliance “unacceptable,” she urged the CJP to step in and ensure the order was uploaded without delay. The matter has sparked concerns over transparency, with critics saying that such actions throw a spanner in the works of justice.
Earlier, Ahead of the decision on petitions related to reserved seats, the Supreme Court issued a significant ruling authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, clarifying the scope of review jurisdiction under Article 188 of the Constitution.
The judgment states that a review petition can only be filed under Article 188 of the Constitution and the Supreme Court Rules. It underscores that mere dissatisfaction with a verdict is not sufficient grounds for review. Instead, a review must point to a legal or technical error.
The bench ruled that issues already deliberated and dismissed during the original proceedings cannot be reopened through a review petition. It further observed that the argument that an alternative interpretation could have been considered is not a valid ground for review.
The judgment also expressed concern over the backlog of cases in the country, noting that nearly 2.2 million cases remain pending nationwide — with over 56,000 currently awaiting adjudication in the Supreme Court alone. A significant portion of this backlog, the ruling noted, consists of unnecessary review petitions, which the judiciary should actively discourage.
The ruling was passed by a three-member bench comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.
Meanwhile, a 13-member full court, headed by Justice Syed Aminuddin Khan, heard review petitions concerning the reserved seats.
On July 12, 2023, the court had directed to allot the reserved seats to the PTI. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah had authored that order. Justice Shah is not part of the larger bench hearing the review petition.
Earlier, A contempt petition was moved in the Supreme Court on Monday against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not implementing the apex court’s order on the reserved seats.
The contempt petition was filed by senior lawyer and PTI leader Salman Akram Raja.
The members of ECP were made respondents in the contempt petition.
The PTI’s lawyers prayed before the court to direct the ECP to implement the order on reserved seats. The lawyer also requested the court to start the contempt proceedings against the ECP.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had declared the ECP plea seeking clarity on reserved seats’ ruling a ruse to delay implementation.
The court also ordered the election watchdog to implement the initial verdict in letter and spirit to avoid repercussions.
