SC bill: CJP says court has utmost respect for Parliament

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday issued notices to the government, AGP, political parties, bar councils, and others in petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, aimed at clipping the powers of the CJP.

An eight-member bench of the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the pleas challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023.

The bench is headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprises 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.

The attorney general of Pakistan and the lawyers of the petitioners Azhar Siddique advocate and Imtiaz Siddiqui appeared before the court.

In his arguments, Imtiaz Siddiqui said the political crisis emerged after the restoration of the National Assembly. The federal government and the ECP are not ‘interested’ in holding elections after which the SC had to take suo moto notice.

After the decision, the judges were criticized for which the government,  ministers and the members of the parliament are ‘responsible’ he added.

Imtiaz Siddiqui said that the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 is against the independence of the judiciary. The bill was rejected but later it was passed by the joint session of the parliament, he maintained and added as per article 191, the SC forms its rules and procedure.

SC rules are available, which cannot be amended by the Parliament, he added. To this, the CJP remarked: “You mean to say that the freedom of judiciary is basic fundamental which is safeguarded by the constitution.”

Umar Ata Bandial remarked that the court has the utmost respect for the parliament and issued notices to AGP, political parties, bar councils and others during the hearing of petitions challenging a bill clipping the powers of the chief justice.

CJP Bandial said the next hearing of the case will be decided after consultation with the fellow judges and added that the court will release the order of today’s hearing.

Read more: Govt rejects bench hearing Supreme Court (Procedure and Practice) Bill

Govt rejects SC bench

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ruled coalition government has rejected the 8-member bench of the Supreme Court formed to hear a petition challenging the Supreme Court (Procedure and Practice) Bill 2023.

The bench headed by CJP Umar Ata Bandial includes Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Muzahir Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi.

In a statement released on Thursday after a consultative meeting, the ruling coalition rejected the move and called it ‘controversial’.

Bill

On Monday, amid strong protests by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers, the Joint Sitting of Parliament passed 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).

Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 which was passed by the Parliament.

It is to mention that President Dr Arif Alvi returned the ‘judicial reforms’ bill for reconsideration to the Parliament as per the provisions of Article 75 of the Constitution.