Two judges of Supreme Court Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail issued detailed dissenting notes in the suo moto case of delaying elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial took suo moto notice and formed a nine-member larger bench to hear the matter in February.
The other members of the bench included Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah.
Two apex court judges Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail on Monday issued a 27-page detailed order.
Both the judges said it was important to revise the power of ‘one-man show’ enjoyed by the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
The dissenting note reads: “This court cannot be dependent on the solitary decision of one man, the Chief Justice, but must be regulated through a rule-based system approved by all Judges of the Court under Article 191 of the Constitution, in regulating the exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 184(3) including the exercise of suo motu jurisdiction; the constitution of Benches to hear such cases; the constitution of Regular Benches to hear all the other cases instituted in this Court; and the constitution of Special Benches.
The note further reads: “The power of doing a “one-man show” is not only anachronistic, outdated and obsolete but also is antithetical to good governance and incompatible to modern democratic norms. One-man leads to the concentration of power in the hands of one individual, making the system more susceptible to the abuse of power. In contrast, a collegial system with checks and balances helps prevent the abuse and mistakes in the exercise of power and promote the transparency and accountability.”
