ISLAMABAD: Within the wake of coronavirus pandemic and the current lockdown, the Supreme Court docket on Thursday postponed the listening to of petitions difficult the submitting of the presidential reference towards Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The case was mounted for Monday (March 30).
In a associated improvement, the apex court docket additionally waived for a month the limitation interval for submitting purposes, petitions, appeals and overview petitions as its principal seat in addition to all department registries in several cities of the nation will stay closed until April 21.
The Supreme Court docket has already communicated to the events involved, together with petitioners and respondents, in regards to the postponement of the Justice Isa case whose subsequent date shall be introduced later.
A 10-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, was to renew the listening to of a set of petitions difficult the presidential reference filed towards Justice Isa of the Supreme Court docket for not declaring three offshore properties within the identify of his spouse and youngsters.
Waives limitation interval for submitting purposes, petitions, appeals and evaluations
On the final listening to on Feb 24, Lawyer Common Khalid Jawed Khan had requested the apex court docket to think about the federal authorities’s request for suspending the case for 3 weeks. He had mentioned that it will be truthful that he mustn’t signify the federal authorities since he was personally conflicted within the matter for giving his opinion within the case earlier.
Justice Bandial had accepted the plea with a directive for the AG to use his thoughts, however made it clear that the court docket wouldn’t settle for no matter had occurred earlier when former AG Anwar Mansoor made sure objectionable statements and needed to resign as a consequence.
Whereas suspending the case, the apex court docket had directed the federal authorities to have interaction a brand new lawyer who needs to be totally dedicated to the Justice Isa case for the reason that new lawyer basic and Farogh Naseem because the regulation minister wouldn’t be pleading the case on behalf of the federal authorities.
Neither the lawyer basic nor the regulation minister could be the lead counsel for the federal authorities within the case, the court docket order had mentioned, including that in case the federal authorities couldn’t interact a totally dedicated full-time lawyer, Extra Lawyer Common Chaudhry Aamir Rehman would plead the case on behalf of the federal government since he had attended all hearings to this point.
Nonetheless, the regulation minister was allowed to look in particular person since he had been impleaded by identify throughout the proceedings.
SC notification
On Thursday, the Supreme Court docket issued a notification stating that there shall be no bar on submitting purposes, petitions and appeals inside the statutory interval of limitation. Normally the appeals and petitions need to be filed with a interval prescribed underneath the Limitation Act of 1908 which, in sure instances, is 30 days.
On March 25, Supreme Court docket Bar Affiliation (SCBA) President Syed Qalbe Hassan had requested Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed to think about waiving the requirement of limitation for submitting instances in courts throughout the nation and difficulty essential directives on this regard purely on sympathetic consideration due to the current peculiar circumstances.
“This is all the more necessary,” he had advised in view of the lockdown-like scenario all through the nation, creating excessive issue for the litigants to succeed in legal professionals and courts to hunt recommendation and file instances inside the time restrict prescribed underneath the regulation.
For this function, a four-page petition was drafted on behalf of the SCBA president and filed within the Supreme Court docket on Thursday. It pleaded that the interval of limitation be waived from the second week of March until additional orders with a declaration that this order could be binding on courts and tribunals, together with the superior judiciary.
The Islamabad Excessive Court docket has already issued an identical order in view of the whole blockade and tedious circumstances for the litigants to succeed in courts.
Issued underneath Article 191 of the Structure, in addition to related guidelines of the Supreme Court docket Guidelines 1980, the SC notification acknowledged that for the aim of calculation of interval of limitation, supplied underneath the Limitation Act 1908 or underneath every other regulation, the establishment department of the apex court docket, on the principal seat of the apex court docket and the department registries will deem to be closed from March 22 to April 21, until withdrawn. Due to this fact, there shall be no bar on the situation of limitation, it mentioned.
“It is expedient to facilitate filing of suits, applications, petitions and appeals before different courts, since the litigants are unable to approach this court on account of the lockdown,” the notification mentioned, acknowledging the curtailment of motion and non-availability or shortage of technique of transportation — a scenario which it agreed was past the management of the litigants.
Printed in Daybreak, March 27th, 2020
