Ahead of the Supreme Court’s deadline for political parties to reach a consensus on a new date for elections in Punjab on Wednesday, the Bench no 1 of the apex court was revised due to the ‘indisposition’ of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial.
The Registrar’s Office issued a notification denotifying the cause list. “All the cases scheduled for hearing before the bench have also been delisted,” the notification reads.
“It is to inform that the Court Roster regarding Bench-I for Wednesday, 26th April 2023, has been revised due to the indisposition of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan.”
The bench which included Justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Athar Minallah was to hear 12 cases.
The Supreme Court spokesperson said that the “bench No 1 has been delisted due to the non-availability of the Chief Justice of Pakistan as he could not to court due to health issues”.
The Registrar’s Office, in the meantime, also announced three benches who would be hearing the cases today. The Bench number 2 would comprise Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Aminuddin Khan; Bench number 3 would include Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Shahid Waheed, while Bench 4 would have Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi.
Remember that, the top court in his last hearing all political parties to evolve a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections of the National Assembly; otherwise, the court noted, its order regarding the Punjab Assembly elections on 14th May would come into force.
