The larger bench of the Supreme Court (SC) showed its members at odds with each other as they resumed the hearing of Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Thursday.
A 10-member larger SC bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Aminuddin Khan resumed the case on Thursday.
During the proceedings, Justice Maqbool Baqar urged Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman not to repeat his arguments from earlier in the interest of saving time. At this, Justice Munib Akhtar chimed in and told the government’s counsel that there is no race as he may take time.
Justice Baqar did not take kindly to this remark, and chided Justice Akhtar over decorum and interrupting a senior judge.
The situation got more intense as Justice Baqar and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah also got into an argument over the latter asking the former to allow the counsel to proceed.
Justice Baqar stated that if “someone wanted to drag the matter for [their own] motive, then it is a different reason”. He added that a coercive attitude will not be allowed [in the courtroom].
“[The] whole world is watching this case!” he maintained.
Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah threw their support behind Justice Baqar and therein asked the counsel to keep in mind that one member of the bench, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, was retiring.
Later, Justice Umar Ata Bandial announced that the bench was taking a short break. However, Justice Baqar left the courtroom in protest before rising of the bench.
