Law minister presents judicial reforms bill to NA

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday presented the judicial reforms bill which aimed to curtail the suo motu powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), ARY News reported.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar tabled the judicial reforms bill to the National Assembly (NA) after its approval from the federal cabinet.

Under the new legislation, the decision for suo motu notice will be taken by three senior judges of the Supreme Court (SC) and they will have to fix the appeal within 14 days.

READ: FEDERAL CABINET APPROVES DRAFT LAW TO CURTAIL CJP SUO MOTU POWERS

The new legislation will end sole power of the chief justice to take the suo motu notice. It was also stated that the judiciary will be bound to fix the hearing of the case within 15 days to provide immediate and interim relief.

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 it will 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).

READ: TWO JUDGES’ OPINION ‘NOT RELEVANT’ IN POLLS DELAY CASE, SAYS CJP BANDIAL

While speaking on the assembly’s floor, the law minister said that debates were held on the misuse of Constitution’s Article 184/3. He said that they witnessed the misuse of the law ‘by a person’ in the judicial history.

Tarar said that it was necessary to give other party right for appealing against the verdict. He added that the law ministry recommended the legal amendment in light of the dissenting note of two SC judges.

The majority of NA lawmakers recommended to refer the judicial reforms bill to the concerned standing committee of the Lower House and asked the government refrain from showing any kind hastiness in approving the legislation.

READ: SC JUDGES CALL FOR REVISITING “ONE-MAN SHOW” POWERS ENJOYED BY CJP

Following the NA lawmakers’ recommendations, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf referred the bill to the concerned standing committee. He directed the NA body to present the bill at the earliest after concluding debates.

The NA session was then adjourned till March 29 at 11:00 am.