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SIBI: Three judges of the Supreme Court have excused themselves from being part of the appellate bench which will be constituted to hear Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's appeal in the contempt of court case against him, DawnNews reported on Tuesday.
Speaking after inaugurating the premises of Balochistan High Court (BHC) Sibi Circuit Bench, Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary said that a nine-member bench of the apex court would be formed to hear the case if the government decides to appeal against the court’s verdict.
However, the CJP inhibited himself from disclosing the identities of the three judges who excused themselves from the bench.
Chaudhry further said that the apex court was taking an additional judge and two ad-hoc judges because a seven member bench had given its verdict and now a nine member bench will have to hear its appeal.
“Three of the nine existing members of the appellate bench cannot hear the case. If the appeal comes to us then there are six remaining judges,” said the CJP.
“Article 181 and 182 of the constitution contained provisions to meet this situation,” he added.
Moreover, the chief justice reiterated that all the institutions of the country should work under ambit of the constitution.
The Supreme Court convicted PM Gilani of contempt of court for not writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari as ordered in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) implementation case.
The PPP-led government has said that it will wait for the apex court to pass a detailed judgment before filing an appeal.
