Supreme Court forms special bench to hear election matters

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday formed a three-member special bench to hear petitions pertaining to election matters and has fixed 67 different appeals for hearing.

The special bench will be headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and would comprise Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel as members.

It would hear appeals on July 14 for which the court has already issued notices to the respondents.

The top court has fixed several appeals for hearing including Aslam Shah's petition against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar's appeal against PML-N's Khawaja Asif, and an appeal filed against Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri.

A number of cases  next week

In addition, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed has constituted two benches at the principal seat to hear a number of important cases during the next week, starting from Monday.

The first bench comprises Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, whereas, the second bench includes Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Aminud Din Khan.

During the next week, the apex court will hear many important cases including the federal government's appeal against the Sindh High Court order regarding the stay of sugar inquiry report, the appeal regarding rights of the disabled people in Pakistan, and an appeal regarding the legislation by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab Assemblies for employment and rehabilitation of disabled persons.

The court is also due to hear appeals seeking striking of Civil Servant Amendment Act 2019 regarding enhancement of retirement age, and the suo moto contempt proceeding against Agha Iftikharuddin Mirza on account of the derogatory and contemptuous language used against the judiciary in a video clip circulating on social media.

Moreover, the court would also hear the case pertaining to the Chairman Board of Governor Lahore Reading Hospital (LRH) MTI, Peshawar, and others, versus Dr Musa Kaleem and others, against the direct appointment of doctors on promotion posts.

The court would also hear an appeal seeking declaration of Punjab Local Government Act, 2019 as repugnant to Article 140-A of the constitution in the coming week.

According to the cause list, no adjournment on any ground would be granted and no application for adjournment through fax would be placed before the court.

Furthermore, if the counsel is unable to appear for any reason, the advocate-on-record would be required to argue the case.