ISLAMABAD - Casting doubts on the transparency of the case-assigning procedure, Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa yesterday refused to hear the scheduled cases after the registrar reshuffled the benches without keeping the concerned judges and other stakeholders in the loop. The registrar reshuffled the benches and replaced Justice Hasan Rizvi with another judge after which Justice Isa and Justice Yahya Afridi raised objections to the allocation of cases. The judges questioned the procedure of assigning cases in the top court. During the hearing, the court also summoned the registrar of the Supreme Court along with all the records. “I am a Supreme Court judge and have been the chief justice of Balochistan High Court for five years,” said Justice Isa, adding that he wants transparency. “How will there be transparency if the registrar transfers a case from one bench to another?” he questioned. “It seems like the registrar has more power than a judge like me,” he said. At this, the registrar said that the hearing of the cases is scheduled only after Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial’s approval. “The bench included Justice Hasan Rizvi. Why did it change?” questioned Justice Afridi. Justice Isa said there was no transparency in the case-assigning procedure at the registrar’s office. “Why were mine and Justice Yahya Afridi’s benches changed?” he asked the registrar and argued that changing the benches without informing the stakeholders created suspicions in the minds of the people. The registrar said that the chief justice’s staff officer made a proposal regarding the reshuffling of benches on verbal instructions. He added that the officer had said that the roster of the judges was to be changed on the chief justice’s directives.
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