KARACHI  -  The Sindh High Court’s (SHC) regular benches on Tuesday recused to hear constitutional petitions after formation of dedicated constitutional benches.

A SHC division bench led by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar was hearing a case related to the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). During the proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the matter fell under Article 199(2) of the Constitution and sought an urgent hearing.

Justice Panhwar observed that petitions involving restraining orders against provincial or Federal governments or their institutions should be addressed by the constitutional bench.

He advised the counsel to obtain permission from Justice KK Agha and clarified that while conditional permission could be granted, it would first need to be

determined whether the case should be heard by a regular or constitutional bench. In a separate development, the court declined to entertain cases concerning  call-up notices, account de-freezing, protection requests and postponed all these matters for an indefinite time. Additionally, a petition regarding the quashing of an FIR was directed to be converted into a Section 561 application and presented to the appropriate bench.

Just a day before, Judicial Commission of Pakistan nominated nine judges for constitutional benches in the SHC. Justice KK Agha has been appointed as the

head of these constitutional benches as well as the constitutional committee.