In a first in the judicial history of Pakistan, the Supreme Court of Pakistan decided to livestream a court hearing after an agreement was reached in a full-court meeting under new Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Monday.

The court proceedings in the Supreme Court Practice and Procedures are being telecasted live.

The new chief justice chaired the full court meeting early on Monday to confer with his fellow judges on running the court.

Sources said PTV has been instructed to set up its equipment in courtroom number 1 and make arrangements for proceedings to be shown live.

The meeting came just before a full-court bench took up the bill aimed at clipping the powers of the chief justice to form benches and take suo motu notices.

Also included on the meeting agenda is a discussion on which cases should be prioritised and how court proceedings can be made more effective.

All 14 judges of the court including Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Musarrat Hilali will be part of the bench and the meeting.

The meeting began on the first working day of Isa’s tenure as chief justice. Voices for the formation of a full court have long been heard from inside the court.

Practice and Procedure case

An eight-member bench led by previous Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial had stopped the bill from taking effect on April 13 before it had officially become law.

The case has been pending in the court but judges repeatedly called for a decision on the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who was on the three-member bench hearing the PTI petition against NAB Amendments, said if the Practice and Procedure Act was restored by the court it would have a bearing on the NAB amendment case.

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Justice Isa refuses guard of honor

Upon arrival at the Supreme Court on his first day of work on Monday, the new chief justice refused to receive a guard of honour.

Speaking to his staff on his arrival in the court, that the doors of justice would be open and the court would lend its help to whoever asked for it.

He added that people do not come to the court for leisure but to get their problems solved. Isa said that whoever came to the court would be treated as a ‘guest’.