The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday declared Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Sept 16 decision to bar Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri from judicial work “null and void”, a day after the apex court ordered the decision’s suspension.
Resuming the hearing today, the five-member constitutional bench — headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan and comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan — took up Justice Jahangiri’s petition.
At yesterday’s hearing, the court issued notices to the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and the advocate general of Islamabad to appear for the hearing.
Today, AGP Awan appeared before the court and said, “A judge cannot be barred from judicial work through an interim order.“
At this, Justice Aminuddin Khan asked respondent Mian Daud, who had filed the original petition against Justice Jahangiri, for his opinion. In response, Daud said: “I hold the same opinion — a judge cannot be stopped from judicial work.”
He added that “an order barring a judge from their duties can not be defended.”
The constitutional bench, noting the SC registrar office’s objections regarding the petition against Justice Jahangiri in the IHC, directed the court to “first decide on the objections in the writ petition.”
More to follow.