Justice Aminuddin gives plan for swift processing of constitutional cases

ISLAMABAD: Justice Aminuddin Khan, head of the Constitutional Benches, has issued the minutes from the meeting held on November 6, 2024, regarding the functioning of the constitutional benches.

According to a press release issued on Monday, a meeting took place in the chambers of Justice Aminuddin Khan to discuss the nomination of judges for the constitutional benches of the Supreme Court and to establish modalities for their efficient operation. Justice Aminuddin was briefed on the current backlog of cases under Articles 184(1), 184(3), and 186, including human rights cases. The existing procedures for handling constitutional petitions and a proposed strategy for future improvements were also presented to the head of the constitutional benches, according to the press release.

It was decided that colour coding would be applied to categorise cases falling under Article 191A of the Constitution, with Mazhar Ali Khan, Senior Research Officer of Supreme Court Research Centre (SCRC), assigned to review cases arising from Article 199.

The scheduling of hearings, bench composition, issuance of court rosters, and the weekly caseload will be determined in consultation with the two senior-most members of the constitutional bench. Under Article 191A Clause (4), a committee comprising the senior-most judge of the constitutional benches and the next two senior judges (nominated under Clause 1) must form a bench of at least five judges for purposes specified in Clause 3 of this Article, the press release said.

The press release stated that, as one committee member is currently abroad, the next meeting will be scheduled upon their return. The meeting was also attended by Muhammad Salim Khan, registrar; Nazar Abbass, additional registrar (judicial); Mazhar Ali Khan, senior research officer (SCRC); Nazeer Ahmed, institution officer; and judicial assistants Abdul Rehman and Mubashir Ahmed.