Despite a Supreme Court order stopping its implementation, a bill seeking to limit the chief justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) authority to issue suo motu notices and form benches was passed into law on Friday. The official Twitter account of the National Assembly tweeted about the development. According to paragraph (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 of the Majlis-i-Shoora (Parliament) is considered to have received the president’s approval. It is hereby made public for informational purposes,” the tweet stated.
It should be noted that the top court last week issued an order prohibiting the government from enforcing the then-bill when it became law as a preventative measure. “The act that comes into being shall not have, take, or be given any effect nor be acted upon in any manner from the moment the bill receives the assent of the president or it is deemed that such assent has been given, then from that very moment onward and until further orders,” stated an interim order issued by an eight-member bench. The law denies the CJP’s office the authority to take individual suo motu notices and grants the right of appeal in all suo motu cases with backwards compatibility.
The law states that a three-member bench, comprising the CJP and the two senior-most judges of the apex court, will decide whether or not to take up a matter suo motu. Previously, this was solely the prerogative of the CJP.
The law also states that every cause, matter, or appeal before the apex court would be heard and disposed of by a bench, constituted by a committee made up of the chief justice and the two senior-most judges.
The legislation also includes the right to file an appeal within 30 days of the judgement in a suo motu case and that any case involving constitutional interpretation will not have a bench of fewer than five judges.
It seeks to allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other parliamentarians disqualified by the Supreme Court under suo motu powers (such as Jahangir Tareen) to appeal their disqualification within 30 days of the law’s enactment.
Initially, the bill was approved by the federal cabinet on March 28 and then passed by both houses of Parliament — the National Assembly and Senate — only for President Arif Alvi to refuse to sign it into law with the observation that it travelled “beyond the competence of Parliament”. However, a joint session of Parliament passed it again on April 10 with certain amendments amid a noisy protest by PTI lawmakers. It was then again referred to the president for his assent. As per the Constitution, if the bill was not signed by him within 10 days, his assent would have been deemed granted. However, three days after the passing of the bill by the joint Parliament session, an eight-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC), including CJP Umar Ata Bandial, issued an order that barred the government from implementing the bill after it becomes a law. Meanwhile, on April 19, the president, for a second time, had refused to give his assent for the bill and sent it back to Parliament, maintaining that the matter was subjudice — in court.
