The Supreme Court (SC) rejected the objection raised by the former Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government against the five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, which was hearing the alleged audio leaks on Friday.
SC rejectes PDM concerns over 3 judges: Earlier this year in May, Chief Justice Bandial presided over the establishment of a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court (SC) established this bench, with Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial presiding and including Justices Ijazul Ahsen, Munib Akhtar, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Shahid Waheed, to hear petitions that opposed the former government’s decision to form an inquiry commission under the direction of senior puisne Judge Qazi Faez Isa for investigating audio leaks involving Supreme Court judges.
In the wake of this, the then-PDM government submitted a civil miscellaneous application (CMA) to the top court asking CJP Bandial, Justice Ahsan, and Justice Akhtar to step down from the five-member bigger bench hearing the current case.
Justice Ahsan issued a brief ruling on SCBA President Abid Shahid Zuberi’s petition, declaring that the formation of the commission was unlawful and stating that the previous administration’s objections to judges amounted to an “attack on the independence of the judiciary.”
On June 6, the supreme court deferred ruling on the petition filed by the previous administration.
On May 26, the larger bench put a hold on the government’s announcement, created a judicial panel to investigate the validity of the audios, and postponed the body’s activities until May 31.
Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial issued a brief statement, suspending the impugned notification No. SRO.596(I)/2023 issued by the Federal Government on May 19, 2023, and the order made by the Commission on May 22, 2023, in light of the circumstances. This suspension will remain in effect until the next date of hearing, resulting in the stay of the Commission’s proceedings.