A nine-member larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC) hearing pleas against trials of civilians in military courts has been dissolved after two judges of the apex court recused themselves from being part of the bench. The bench was dissolved as two of its member including Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the next CJP and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood excused from being part of the bench hearing pleas against the military courts. On Wednesday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial constituted a nine-member larger bench to hear petitions separately filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, former chief justice Jawwad S Khawaja, legal expert Aitzaz Ahsan and others.

Besides the CJP, Senior Puisne Judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi are part of the larger bench. At the outset of the hearing, Justice Qazi Faez said he was surprised after seeing his name in the cause list last night. The senior-most judge after CJP remarked the SC Practices and Procedure Bill was suspended by an eight-member bench of the apex court even before letting it become law. “I am not a part of the bench hearing the [case related to] Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill so I will not make any remark about it,” the senior-most SC judge said.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP