ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court's constitutional bench, headed by Justice Aminud Din Khan, is hearing cases from today (Thursday).
According to the cause list issued on Wednesday, a six-member bench headed by Justice Khan will hear 18 cases today, while 16 cases are set for November 15.
Other members of the bench are Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan. The bench has been created through the 26th Constitutional Amendment passed by parliament in haste on October 21. After the amendment, the Judicial Commission appointed Justice Khan as head of the bench.
Interestingly, the bench will take up a 31-year-old case related to the environmental pollution. The oldest case was filed in 1993. The second case was filed in 2003 and the third in 2016.
Key cases include a petition to remove former president Arif Alvi. The constitutional bench will take up a petition seeking disqualification of lawmakers with assets or businesses abroad today.
The bench will hear challenges to the legality of marriages between government officials and foreign nationals.
Another high profile case is a review petition, filed by Riaz Hanif Rahi, regarding the appointment of Qazi Faez Isa as chief justice of the Balochistan High Court. The petition had been dismissed by a three-member bench headed by former chief justice Saqib Nisar.
The bench will also hear a petition seeking nullification of legislation passed under the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government which came to power in April 2022.
Meanwhile, a suo motu notice on the detail of foreign bank accounts of Pakistani nationals is also part of the cause list for Friday. It is a notice taken in 2018.
A petition filed by Muhammad Ali Durrani seeking repatriation of public funds allegedly stashed abroad is also on the cause list.