In detailed notes released Tuesday night, originally written on June 22, SC Justices Sardar Tariq Masood and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah have agreed with Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s reasoning regarding refusal to sit in the larger nine-member bench constituted to hear the petitions on military court trials of civilians.
The bench was later trimmed down to seven members.
These notes add to a detailed note written on June 22 by Senior Puisne Judge Justice Isa, who had explained why he had refused to be part of the larger nine-member bench constituted to hear the petitions regarding military court trials of civilians and why the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill, 2023 had to be resolved before he could be part of SC benches.
This note was removed from the apex court website shortly after having been uploaded.
Justice Shah claims that this has significantly harmed the legitimacy of the court’s decisions as well as the court’s reputation.
Regarding the current case, in which civilians are being tried in a military court, he says that “the constitutional significance of the matter involved in the present case and its potential ramifications, call for the highest level of judicial scrutiny”.
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