ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), political parties, and the government regarding the judicial reforms bill case. The court has put a halt to the implementation of the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill 2023 until further orders.
The verdict stated that the act that comes into being after receiving the President’s assent or being deemed to have received it, will not have any effect or be acted upon until further notice.
The hearing for the case has been adjourned until May 2. Additionally, the court has served a notice to the attorney general for Pakistan and the Supreme Court Bar Association. The chief justice mentioned that an order will be issued soon, and if necessary, a judicial assistant will also be appointed.
Earlier, apex court issued notices to various parties including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Arif Alvi, the federation, and bar councils, in connection with the petitions challenging a bill that would limit the power of the chief justice.
A SC eight-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shahid Waheed passed the orders on three petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023.
As the hearing commenced, Advocate Imtiaz Siddiqui appeared before the bench and submitted that this is very important case in the given situation.
The counsel argued that the differences widened between the parties after Qasim Suri case and the political crisis deepened after the National Assembly was restored.
He said that the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan were not willing to hold the elections due to which the court took suo motu notice.
The lawyer argued that the judges and the judiciary were criticized after the court’s directives regarding implementation of the Constitution.
A joint statement issued by the coalition parties ahead of the hearing, the ruling partners slammed the move of constituting a bench before the completion of the legislative process and called it an attack on parliament.
