ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has decided that dissenting opinions from judges will only be made public after receiving approval from the head of the relevant bench. This new directive applies to the dissenting note written by Justices Ayesha Malik and Aqeel Abbasi regarding the review petitions challenging the Supreme Court’s verdict on the allocation of reserved seats in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.
Sources revealed that the dissenting note, which was sent for uploading to the Supreme Court’s website, will only be made public once approved by the head of the Constitutional Bench, Justice Aminuddin Khan. This marks a departure from the previous practice, where dissenting opinions were uploaded directly to the website, often without prior approval, as seen during the tenure of former Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
Justice Malik and Justice Abbasi had previously dismissed the review appeals against the apex court’s decision on reserved seats and had submitted a joint dissenting note for publication. However, the note had not been uploaded to the website, which led Justice Malik to formally request the Chief Justice Yahya Afridi to review the matter.
An 11-member Constitutional Bench, led by Justice Khan, is scheduled to hear the case today.
