Islamabad (Web Desk): The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday approved the federal government’s appeal to remove the controversial paras from the previous judgement in Mubarak Sani case.
A three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, heard the Centre's plea alongside the Punjab government’s petition seeking a second review of the top court’s rulings of February 6 and July 24 of this year.
In its short verdict, the court removed 49C including paragraphs 42 and 7 from the previous ruling.
The top said that the paras excluded from the verdict cannot be cited as precedent in any judgment.
Earlier today, the SC had sought guidance from religious scholars, including Mufti Taqi Usmani and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in response to the Punjab government’s review petition.
Mufti Taqi Usmani, who is currently in Turkiye, participated via video link, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP), and other experts were present in court.
CJP Qazi Faez Isa highlighted the gravity of the case, stating, "I personally hope in every prayer that no wrong decisions are made," underscoring the importance of judicial integrity.
He also acknowledged Parliament's role, mentioning his attendance at its 50th anniversary.
The court decided to consult with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mufti Sher Muhammad, and other scholars present. Jamaat-e-Islami's Fareed Paracha will also assist the court.
Besides the Punjab government's plea seeking omissions of certain paras from the court’s July 24 revised verdict, the Centre also filed a similar additional plea on August 17 on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's directives.
The Punjab government in its petition maintained that some leading clerics and members of parliament requested the federal government to approach the top court and highlight some portions of the verdict that they say merited correction.
It further maintained that certain conclusions and observations made in other parts of the judgment seem to be a mistake and inconsistent with previous rulings of the highest court.
The federal government challenged specific sections of the verdict, arguing that they were problematic and not reflective of the case’s factual and legal aspects.
As per the application, some leading clerics and members of parliament have requested the federal government to approach the apex court and highlight some portions of the judgement that merit correction.
The three-page application mentions that paragraph 49 needs omission and correction since the July 24 judgement had held that the verdict of the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) in the 1985 case of Mujib-ur-Rehman versus the government of Pakistan, and the Supreme Court’s 1993 verdict in Zaheer-ud-Din versus the State case were binding precedents and that the apex court had not deviated from these binding precedents in its February 6 judgement.
The application stated that some observations and findings contained in some other paragraphs of the judgement appeared to be an accidental error being contrary to the precedents as mentioned by the top court.