Pakistan Supreme Court halts implementation of bill aimed at limiting powers of chief justice

Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday halted the implementation of a bill that would have significantly reduced the powers of the country’s chief justice. Lawmakers passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 for the second time in a bid to dilute the chief justice’s power to take suo motu action and form a panel of judges for the hearing of cases. Headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the eight-member bench heard three petitions challenging the bill. The bill has not yet become law as President Arif Alvi has not signed it. However, it will become law by next week regardless of the president’s signature as by then it would cross 10 days since it was passed by the parliament. The bench observed that prima facie the proposed law infringed the powers of the apex court to frame its own rules and it merits a hearing by the court. The court in its order after hearing stated that any intrusion in its practice and the procedure, even on the most tentative of assessments, would appear to be “inimical to the independence of the judiciary, no matter how innocuous, benign or even desirable the regulation may facially appear to be”. The court stated, “It is therefore hereby directed and ordered as follows. The moment that the bill receives the assent of the president or (as the case may be) it is deemed that such assent has been given, then from that very moment onwards and till further orders, the act that comes into being shall not have, take or be given any effect nor be acted upon in any manner.” The bench issued notices to respondents of the case like political parties, the federal government, the Attorney General, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), and the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. The resolution tabled by the Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Agha Rafiullah was approved by a majority vote. According to the resolution, the lower house rejected the eight-member bench, which excluded two senior judges of the apex court. It argued that constitution-making is the sole responsibility of the Parliament and that the house views the decision of the apex court with “concern”. It expressed concern over the non-inclusion of senior judges in the larger bench. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .