The three major parties in the ruling coalition - PPP, PMLN, and JUIF - have sought the removal of Justice Ijaz ul-Ahsan and Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi from the nine-member larger bench in a suo motu case on the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) elections.
Farooq H Naik, counsel for the Pakistan Peoples Party, read the coalition's joint statement in the court, stating that the case in the Ghulam Mehmood Dogar case had already been heard in Lahore by Justice Mazahar Naqvi and Justice Ijaz ul-Ahsan.
The written note further stated, "It has been said that Justice Ejaz and Justice Mazahar should be separated from the bench under the right to a fair trial."
"On the request of both judges, suo motu notice was taken, so the judges should leave the bench, and both judges should not hear any case involving Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam," he read.
Farooq H Naik also read out the verdicts of both judges in the Ghulam Mehmood Dogar case during the hearing.
Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s lawyer, Advocate Azhar Siddique, demanded that the court take notice of the language being used against the judiciary.
Referring to a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) rally held on Friday, he said that "derogatory remarks" were hurled at the judiciary in that public gathering.
However, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said it could be looked at later.
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail replied that political matters must be settled in Parliament. "Go to your parties … why should the court hear this matter?"
At that, Pakistan Peoples Party lawyer Farooq H Naik said that he would seek direction from his party on the matter. He also requested that the court first hear the government’s objection on the bench.
"The court will hear the objection raised against the two judges on Monday," Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial remarked and adjourned the hearing till Monday.