RAWALPINDI, July 7: A new division bench recently appointed by the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Justice Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry for rehearing the Steel Mills reference case against former senator Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday marked the case back to the chief justice after the defence counsel contended that it was not the "concerned bench" that had been directed by the Supreme Court to decide the case within three weeks.

The new division bench comprises Justice Mohammad Akhtar Bashir and Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam. When the bench took up the case, the defence counsel, Dr Babar Awan, contended that the bench was not the one that had been directed by the Supreme Court on June 30 to announce the verdict in the case within three weeks.

Justice Chaudhry had formed the new division bench for rehearing the reference on June 18 after dissolving the division bench that had already reserved judgment in the case.

The LHC chief justice had established the new bench after dissolving the one presided by Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Justice Sardar Mohammad Aslam soon after the Supreme Court asked it to announce the judgment within 15 days.

The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Rana Bagwan Das and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramdi had issued the directive on June 9, which mean that the dissolved bench had only another six days at its disposal to announce the verdict.

The refusal of the defence counsel to accept the new bench has come after a three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Justice Javid Iqbal and Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had, on June 30, again observed that it would adjudicate the matter on the basis of the present record if the LHC failed to meet the deadline.

The SC had also ruled that the "concerned bench" which had already heard the appeal should decide the matter within three weeks. The defence counsel had contended before the SC that the LHC had already reserved judgment after concluding the hearing, but one of the judges, Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, of the said bench was transferred from Rawalpindi to Multan just to delay the adjudication of the case. The new bench wanted to hear the entire case from the beginning.