ISLAMABAD - Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday filed a fresh application requesting the Supreme Court to reconsider an order passed by the chief justice and direct the office to assign a number to his petition to club all the three NAB references against him and fix it before a bench of the apex court for adjudication.
The former premier filed the application through his counsel Khawaja Haris under Order V, Rules 2(5) and 4 of Supreme Court Rules, 1980. He made the federation through the Ministry of Law and Justice, the NAB, the accountability court, Hassan and Hussain Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz and Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar respondents.
On November 16, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar in his chamber passed the order on an appeal of Sharif challenging the order of the registrar office which had rejected his petition asking him to approach the relevant forum.
The registrar office order had ruled that Sharif had already availed himself of the remedy of review against the July 28 judgment in the Panama leaks case.
The chief justice order stated: “In fact, the point raised in the present petition should have been part of the review petition, which was never raised by the petitioner during those proceedings despite having a clear chance to do so. The civil miscellaneous appeal is accordingly dismissed.”
Kh Haris contended it has been maintained in the judgment of the apex court in Najeeb Butt versus State that after the dismissal of a review petition, an aggrieved person can seek further remedy in terms of Article 184(3) read with Article 187 of the Constitution for consideration by a larger bench. He took the stance that since the case is similar in nature, the chief justice’s order should be reconsidered following the principles of equality as well as due process.
Kh Haris said he has filed the petition on the ground that a judgment per incurium can neither be given by the registrar nor by the judge in chamber; rather it has to be placed before, adjudicated and decided by a bench of the top court. “There is no bar on the jurisdiction of the apex court under Article 184(3) read with 187 of Constitution in respect of the judgment which is per incurium and non-est,” he added.