ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday 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 passe 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.
He told the bench that the government’s ministers and members of the parliament were responsible for this, contending that the proposed legislation interfered with the independence of the judiciary.
He argued that the president’s objections to the bill were not examined and the bill would become law after the approval of a joint session of the parliament in next ten days.
Advocate Siddiqui argued that the apex made its own rules under Article 191. He asked the court to stop the bill from becoming the law.
After hearing arguments of the counsel, the bench issued notices to the partis including the prime minister, president, Punjab Bar Council and others.
“We will issue verdict of today’s hearing,” remarked Chief Justice Bandial and adjourned the hearing.
Earlier, in 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.
Earlier, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Vice Chairman Haroonur Rashid and Executive Committee Vice Chairman Hassan Raza Pasha, said that the chief justice constituted the bench in haste for hearing the petitions.
On other hand, three lawyers including Raja Amer Khan, Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain and Mohammad Shafay Munir, among others, under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, filed the petitions and asked the top court to set aside the bill.
The federal government got the bill passed in a joint session of parliament on Monday after President Arif Alvi returned it last week without signing it.
The president had returned the bill to parliament for reconsideration, citing Article 75 of the Constitution, and stating that its prima-facie travels beyond the competence of parliament and can be assailed as colourable legislation.
The House approved an amendment to the SC bill, under which a judges’ committee meeting would be convened to devise rules and regulations regarding the suo motu matters. The amendment was proposed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Shaza Fatima Khawaja.
The chief justice of Pakistan or any other member of the committee can call the meeting until the rules and regulations are finalised.
