CJP should not head constitutional bench: Rana Sana

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah Khan has said that Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi should not head the Constitutional Bench and Puisne Judge Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar should recuse themselves from the Constitutional Bench.

He expressed these views while replying to a question asked by host Shahzad Iqbal during Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’ on Sunday. The host asked if the Judicial Commission would include the top three apex court judges in the Constitutional Bench.

Sana said the Judicial Commission has to make appointments to Constitutional Benches and it has the power to start from wherever it likes. However, he believed that the senior judges in the Supreme Court, Justice Mansoor and Justice Muneeb, would not like to be a part of the Constitutional Bench.

Rana Sana said, “My opinion is that the Judicial Commission should consider making judges after these senior judges. Legally, these three senior most judges can be brought on this bench. I understand that if Chief Justice Yahya Afridi has to choose a constitution bench, how it would be appropriate for him to say that I become myself the head of the Constitutional Bench.” Therefore, he should not be there in order to ensure balance as the chief justice.