Justice Aminud Din Khan on Thursday recused himself from a five-member bench hearing a case pertaining to delay of elections in Punjab, requiring the reconstitution of the bench before the hearing can resume.
The Supreme Court was set to resume hearings into the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s postponing of elections in Punjab from April 30 to Oct. 8 but was brought to a half by Justice Khan’s recusal. As the hearing commenced, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial told the courtroom that Justice Amin had something to say.
“I recuse myself from the instant case in light of SC order issued by Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” the judge stated. At this, the entire bench left the courtroom, as the bench stood dissolved and had to be reconstituted to continue hearings. The original five-member bench included, apart from Justice Khan, the CJP and Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, and Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
A day earlier, a special bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Isa—and including Justices Aminuddin Khan and Shahid Waheed—had ordered the suspension of cases taken up under Article 184(3) of the Constitution until the Supreme Court Rules, 1980 could be revised to provide a mechanism for the CJP’s discretionary powers to form benches. The 2-1 majority judgment had been validated by Justices Isa and Khan. However, Justice Waheed had dissented with the majority order, stating that it was not relevant to the case before them.
It is as yet unclear when the polls delay case would resume hearing. In yesterday’s proceedings, Justice Mandokhail had debated the maintainability of the case, noting that the apex court had yet to issue an order on its initial ruling. The CJP, meanwhile, had sought assurances from the government and the PTI to tone down political tensions to encourage dialogue between all stakeholders.