SC bench dissolved again as Justice Mandokhail recuses himself

The hearing of the appeal against delay in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffered another setback on Friday as another Supreme Court judge refuses himself from the case.

As the proceedings set into motion on Friday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial stopped Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Khan from continuing his arguments, saying Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail wanted to say something.

Upon which Justice Mandokhail said that he was not consulted on the order which the Supreme Court issued on Thursday regarding court proceedings.

Justice Mandokhail said he is recusing himself from hearing the case. “The order about case hearing was neither written in the court nor was I consulted on it,” the apex court judge maintained.

The Supreme Court was due to resume hearing the PTI petition challenging the delay in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 11:30 am on Friday.

Four chairs had been placed in the courtroom. Justice Aminuddin Khan will not be a part of the bench as he had rescued himself from the case on Thursday.

According to the Supreme Court circular, the order to stop the proceedings of the cases being heard under Article 184/3, does not apply to the larger bench.

The circular further states that Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Aminuddin Khan’s decision is not applicable to other benches.

The decision (by two judges) was made against the petition which was about awarding 20 extra marks to Hafiz Quran, the SC circular added.