Legal experts weigh in on judges' call for revisiting CJP's powers.

Legal experts and lawyers on Monday weighed in after Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court called for revisiting the power of the 'one-man show' enjoyed by the chief justice.

The two judges made the remarks in a detailed dissenting note - released on Monday hours after the SC took up the PTI's plea challenging the postponement of elections in Punjab - on the top court's March 1 verdict regarding holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The top court, in a 3-2 verdict, had directed the electoral watchdog to consult with President Arif Alvi for polls in Punjab and Governor Ghulam Ali for elections in KP, so that elections could be held within the stipulated timeframe of 90 days.

In the dissenting note, the two judges said that the reconstitution of the bench hearing the suo motu notice case regarding the delay in the provincial elections was 'simply an administrative act'.

'Therefore, we are of the opinion that the dismissal of the present suo motu proceedings and the connected constitution petitions is the order of the court by a majority of 4 to 3 of the seven-member bench,' the two judges said.

Speaking on Samaa TV programme 'Nadeem Malik Live', Supreme Court advocate Salman Akram Raja said that the five-member bench hearing the PTI's plea challenging the electoral body's orders to put off Punjab Assembly elections would decide whether the 3-2 or 4-3 ruling was applicable to the March 1 order.

'It will be clear in a day or two. This is no big matter,' he said.

Raja argued that according to the Constitution, smaller benches also represented the apex court's stance. 'There is no rule which says a full court will sit [...] we consider the bench to be the Supreme Court. Now, a bench is hearing the matter and it will decide what the previous verdict was. We will have to accept that decision.'

He said 'all issues' raised in the dissenting note were important. 'They are all good things and they should be carried out in the future,' he said.

Raja said the demand for having certain rules for invoking the top court's suo motu jurisdiction was also valid. 'We should formulate rules immediately. However, we cannot just reject the past by saying that 'it was a one-man show' or 'chief justices made the benches',' he added.

Raja said that the reason why such rules had not yet been formulated was due to a lack of consensus among the top court judges.

Legal expert Salahuddin Ahmed, while speaking on...