Azam Nazeer Tarar asks President Alvi to sign judicial reforms bill

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Monday asked President Arif Alvi to sign the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which aims to curtail the suo motu powers of office of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), ARY News reported.

Speaking on the National Assembly (NA) floor, the law minister said that the bill had been pending with the president for the last four days, and he should fulfill his constitutional duty and sign it as required by the Constitution

On the occasion, he also recalled the unconstitutional steps by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership at the time of their ouster from power.

As regards the suo motu case regarding the polls’ delay in Punjab, Tarar reiterated the demand for a full court bench of the Supreme Court to decide upon the matter. “Collective wisdom was needed to avert the looming constitutional and stop further deteriorating the prevailing economic and political crises,” he added.

Azam Nazeer Tarar regretted that the suo motu proceedings were initiated by a nine-member SC bench, which had been relegated to three members. Justice Mandokhail, one of the senior judges on the bench, recused himself from hearing the case.

Whether the verdict announced by the three-member bench would be acceptable to the nation or implementable, the minister questioned.

He was of the view that general elections across the country should be held simultaneously for the sake of political and economic stability.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he said, had postponed the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) keeping in view the security, political and economic challenges faced by Pakistan at the current juncture.

Tarar said Article 224 asked for the general elections at the same time across the country, while as per Article 254 polls could be postponed due to the extraordinary situation.

“The ECP has the mandate to adjust the schedule of the election keeping in view the ground realities” he added. The minister viewed that the Election Commission had announced the date of the election in October after hearing all the stakeholders.

“There were several examples in the past when elections were postponed due to certain reasons,” he added.

Tarar said two provincial assemblies were dissolved by the PTI-led governments in January just to satisfy the ego of one person – PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

Last month, the Senate passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which aimed to clip powers of office of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) to take suo motu notice.

The bill was moved by Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar in the Senate. The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure), Bill 2023 was adopted by a majority vote of 60-19.

The bill

Under the new legislation, the decision for suo motu notice will be taken by three senior judges of the Supreme Court (SC).

Moreover, the bill also includes a clause regarding the right to appeal against the decision, which could be filed within 30 days and fixed for a hearing in two weeks.

It added that the party will be allowed to change its lawyer in a suo motu case. Under Article 184, the matter will be presented before a judges committee. The committee will review the case and later form a five-member committee for any kind of constitutional interpretation.

The act will be taken into effect on all verdict of the high courts and the Supreme Court (SC).

President Alvi questions timing of legislation

In an interview, President Dr Arif Alvi questioned the ‘timing’ of the legislation aimed to clip powers of CJP, saying that it could have been tabled at an appropriate time.

The president to a query regarding approval of Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, replied: “It’s premature to say what I will decide”.

President Alvi noted that the bill could have been tabled at an appropriate time, considering the current situation. “I would take a right decision over the said bill after receiving the final document,” he added.

Postponement of elections

Earlier in March, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced to delay of the Punjab by-elections which were scheduled to be held on April 30.

The ECP withdrew the Punjab Election Program notification issued on March 8 and decided to postpone the Punjab election and announced October 08 as the new date for elections in Punjab.

Read More: ECP announces date for KP elections

The ECP spokesman said that the president Dr Arif Alvi also been informed about the postponement of elections in Punjab, adding that the new election schedule will release soon.