Parliament passes bill to increase number of SC judges

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) and the Senate of Pakistan on Monday passed a bill to increase the number of the Supreme Court (SC) judges from 17 to 34 amid a protest by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) (Amendment) Bill 2024 to raise the number of SC judges in both houses separately within a span of two hours.

The upper and lower houses passed the bill with a majority of votes.  In the National Assembly, the PTI lawmakers gathered in front of the speaker’s rostrum, tore apart copies of the bill, and chanted slogans.

The National Assembly and the Senate also passed another bill to increase the number of the Islamabad High Court judges from nine to 12.

Speaking on in the National Assembly, Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the amendment would raise the number of judges in the Supreme Court to 34, so that the backlog of cases may be cleared. He said that following the 26th constitutional amendment, the number of judges are to be increased for forming the the constitutional benches.

The law minister said that the legal fraternity and bar associations have been suggesting the increase in number of judges for some time now. “So that the four-bar court registries in Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, and Lahore may relieve themselves of thousands of outstanding cases,” Azam Nazeer Tarar added.

Government, opposition come face to face

A dramatic scene unfolded in the National Assembly as the PTI members staged a fierce protest against the passage of the bills. The unrest began when opposition lawmakers gathered in front of the Speaker’s dias, chanting slogans and tore apart the paper.

The situation escalated when PTI members gathered right in front of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif’s seat, prompting government lawmakers to form a human barrier around him. Amir Muqam, Haneef Abbasi, and Atta Tarar were present, surrounding the prime minister’s seat.