Supreme Court removes Additional Registrar: Here’s why!

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has removed the Additional Registrar (Judicial) for serious misconduct and directed the Registrar to look into the matter, a press release issued here on Tuesday said.

The Supreme Court said the issue involved maladministration in the disposition of cases. CPLA Nos. 836-K to 887-K, 951-K, 1056-K of 2020 and 741-K to 743-K of 2021 and 165-K of 2022, are a group of cases where the Customs Act, 1969, was violated. Challenged”

The Supreme Court said, “These cases were required to be decided before a constitutional bench but were mistakenly decided before a regular bench of the Supreme Court, resulting in wastage of time of the institution as well as the parties.”

“In brief, it is stated that the said cases were decided before a regular bench of three esteemed judges. These cases were heard on January 13, 2025 where besides the merits of the case, the constitutionality of sub-section 2 of Section 11A of the Customs Act was challenged. On this basis, the jurisdiction of the bench was contested,” the statement added.

“Later, the cases were adjourned till January 16, 2025. “Realising the serious lapse on its part, the Judicial Branch, through a note, approached the Regular Committee under Section 2(1) of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023,” the SC said.

Considering the serious nature of the error, the Committee met on January 17, 2025 under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. The Committee noted that Clause 3 of Article 191A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan read with Clause 5 of Article 191A of the Constitution clearly vests such jurisdiction with the Constitution Bench and no one else.

The Committee, therefore, withdrew these cases from the Regular Bench and directed that they be placed before the Constitutional Bench Committee constituted under Article 191A of the Constitution for redetermination.

The Regular Committee also directed that in future all cases falling under Article 191A of the Constitution shall be referred to the Constitutional Bench Committee constituted under Article 191A of the Constitution. The Constitutional Bench will be placed before the Committee irrespective of any order passed by the Regular Bench.

The Regular Committee directed the Registrar of the Supreme Court to expedite the process of scrutiny of all pending cases and to give full attention to the daily cases being heard in this court so that such mistakes are not repeated.

It is worth mentioning that the Constitutional Bench Committee had also met on January 17, 2025 and decided to dispose of all cases challenging the 26th Constitutional Amendment and violation of laws.

Therefore, a Constitutional Bench comprising eight esteemed judges will hear these petitions on January 27, 2025.

Meanwhile, a Regular Bench comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi today heard the contempt of court proceedings initiated against the Additional Registrar (Judicial).

However, due to the illness of the Additional Registrar (Judicial), the Registrar Supreme Court, Mr. Muhammad Saleem Khan, appeared before the Hon’ble Bench.

He pleaded that the cases were listed due to an error which is being reviewed. He also argued that the delisting of the cases before this Hon’ble Bench was not due to malice on the part of the Additional Registrar. Instead, it was a genuine step taken in compliance with the direction of the Regular Committee.

The Supreme Court issued an order for the removal of the Additional Registrar (Judicial). The Chief Justice of Pakistan directed the Registrar Supreme Court to devote more resources to complete the scrutiny of pending cases at the earliest so as to avoid inconvenience to the parties and the legal community.