Sherry Rehman urges Supreme Court judges to overcome internal divisions

Senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Sherry Rehman, called on the judges of the country's Supreme Court to convene together and address their apparent internal divisions and disputes. 

Rehman emphasised that the Supreme Court bench's purported "division and fragmentation" was detrimental to the judiciary's reputation and image.

In a tweet, Rehman expressed her concern that a nine-member bench was reduced to three members, referring to the bench set up by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial in response to a suo-motu notice regarding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

The same bench was later reduced to five after certain Supreme Court judges faced public criticism. However, following an appeal by the PTI against the postponement of elections until October 8 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Supreme Court again constituted a five-member bench, which was reduced to three judges after the recusal of two judges.

Rehman argued that this newly-constituted bench had lost its majority and impartiality and urged a full-court bench of the apex court to address the controversy. 

She also criticised the rejection of the request for a full court bench by the government and bar council, stressing that the decision of the three-judge bench could not be the collective wisdom of the court.

Rehman concluded that the solution to this crisis lies in the display of collective wisdom of the court and urged the apex court to reconsider the formation of a full court bench to ensure transparency and acceptability of the verdict by all political stakeholders.