The Supreme Court cannot run at the whims of one person, said senior puisne judge Justice Faez Isa in his note on Friday. But the 30-page note was removed from the top court’s website moments after it was uploaded.

“This clarification is also important that Section 2 [constitution of benches] of the Supreme Court (Practice & Procedure) Act 2023 only applies to the chief justice and the next two senior judges,” he said in the note which was written in Urdu.

The note centered on the nine-member bench formed to hear appeals against military trials, which according to the judge was formed without his and senior judge Justice Sardar Tariq Masood’s consent.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial constituted a nine-member bench on June 21 to hear petitions against the military trials of the May 9 rioters. Apart from the CJP, the bench included Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Khan Afridi, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Justice Ayesha Malik.

But Justice, who was kept out of several important cases for months, quit the bench on June 22.

While speaking about the section of the bill, Justice Isa said that Justice Sardar Tariq Masood also distanced himself from being part of the bench because of the same reason.

But, he quoted him as saying that the cases in the Supreme Court have been accumulated in abundance. So for this reason, the judge would not hear important cases, including those filed under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution. But he would hear the routine cases.

“Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 199, the Supreme Court shall, if it considers that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II is involved have the power to make an order of the nature mentioned in the said Article,” states Article 184 (3) of the Constitution.

Justice Isa expressed hope that the bench would provide justice and clarified each party in the case that they should not doubt that the “specific” bench was formed to give a “specific” justice.

He further said that the nine-member bench was not of the court because it was created contrary to the existing law. The Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act cannot be suspended by the court, the note said, adding that a three-judge special bench was “undoubtedly created to get a specific verdict”.

Justice Faiz Isa reiterated that he was not separating himself from the case against the military trial.

“Neither did I ever report to any chief justice that I should be sent to any registry for any work, nor was I ever asked to file or not file any kind of case at the Registrar’s Office,” he said.