The Supreme Court has announced that its newly established constitutional bench would commence hearings on November 14 and 15.

To facilitate this process, the SC previously formed a three-judge committee responsible for setting case schedules, issuing court rosters, organising benches, and managing weekly caseloads for the constitutional bench.

In a recent meeting chaired by Justice Aminud Din Khan, who leads the constitutional bench, the committee discussed the formation details. Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Muhammad Ali Mazhar also participated, with Justice Mazhar joining via telephone from Karachi.

According to a press release, it was aimed to address essential matters related to the establishment of the constitutional bench.

Registrar’s office had informed the committee about the backlog of constitutional cases during the meeting. The committee determined that the oldest cases would be given priority in the upcoming hearings.

On November 5, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan convened for the first time and elected Justice Aminud Din Khan as the head of the constitutional bench with a vote of seven to five.

Under the leadership of Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, the restructured JCP formed a seven-member constitutional bench that includes Justices Aminud Din Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha A Malik, Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

The SC press release noted that Justice Ayesha will be unavailable on November 14 and 15. Consequently, a bench will be formed with all available judges to proceed with the cases on those dates.

SC Registrar Muhammad Salim Khan has published the roster for a six-member constitutional bench set to begin hearings at 9:30am on November 14.

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The bench will consist of Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan. The SC has instructed the registrar to organise cases for this bench’s upcoming sessions.

The next committee meeting is scheduled for November 13 at 12:30pm, coinciding with Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar’s arrival in Islamabad.