After Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan's recusal, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail on Friday also recused himself from the Supreme Court bench hearing the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election delay case making it the second time in consecutive days that the bench has been dissolved.
Initially, a five-member larger bench of the top court was formed on Monday to hear Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) plea against the delay in elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
The initial bench comprised Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Khan, and Justice Mandokhail. It held three hearings on the matter.
However, on Wednesday a SC bench headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Wednesday ordered the postponement of cases being heard under Article 184(3) of the Constitution till the amendments made in the Supreme Court Rules 1980 regarding the discretionary powers of the chief justice to form benches.
Justice Khan concurred with Justice Isa while Justice Shahid Waheed dissented with the majority order of 2-1 in a suo motu case regarding the grant of 20 marks to Hafiz-e-Quran students while seeking admission to MBBS/BDS Degree under Regulation 9(9) of the MBBS and BDS (Admissions, House Job and Internship) Regulations, 2018.
Consequently, on Thursday the bench was dissolved after Justice Khan recused himself from the case after a Supreme Court order halted proceedings under Article 184(3).
After the dissolution of the bench, apex court announced that the bench would continue hearing the case without Justice Khan.
But hours before the hearing was set to resume the Supreme Court on Friday “disregarded” the judgment authored by the Justice Isa through a circular.
Subsequently, when the bench arrived to hear the case Justice Mandokhail recused himself from the case.
