A three-member panel led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial started hearing the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election delay case following the recusal of two judges.
Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan make up the other two members of the court.
After two judges who had been involved in the case’s early stages withdrew, the court was changed into a three-member panel. Justice Ameen Ud Din Khan was the first panelist to withdraw.
While Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail also recused from the Supreme Court bench earlier today, the court was disbanded for the second time in two days.
On Monday, the top court initially convened a five-member larger panel to hear the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) complaint regarding the postponement of polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
CJP Bandial, Justice Ahsan, Justice Akhtar, Justice Khan, and Justice Mandokhail made up the first panel.
However, on Wednesday, a Supreme Court bench presided over by Justice Qazi Faez Isa directed that cases falling under Article 184(3) of the Constitution be delayed until the Supreme Court Rules 1980, which govern the chief justice’s discretionary authority to create benches, have been amended.
As a result, on Thursday, Justice Khan’s recusal in accordance with Justice Isa’s directive led to the dissolution of the court considering the election case.
The panel would continue considering the case without Justice Khan, the Supreme Court declared following the bench’s dissolution.
