High Court claims “no jurisdiction” in Supreme Court bench reduction challenge
17 Dec 2014, 1:37 PM
Zaheena Rasheed
The High Court on Tuesday threw out a challenge to Judicature Act amendments that reduced the seven-member Supreme Court bench to five judges and resulted in the sudden removal of Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and Justice Muthasim Adnan.
High Court Registrar Mariyam Afsha said the complaint’s original jurisdiction lay with the Supreme Court, and not the High Court.
The case lodged by Lawyers Shaheen Hameed, Hassan Ma’az Shareef and Mohamed Faisal, contended the revisions to the Judicature Act were unconstitutional as they forced the removal of sitting Supreme Court judges without due process.
Critics have pointed out the High Court registrar’s decision effectively means only the Supreme Court can now hear the challenge and have pointed to a Supreme Court’s conflict of interest in the matter.
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