Judiciary causing political instability, Pak tables bill to amend SC powers

As the government attempted to curb the powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the National Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution asking the Supreme Court (SC) to “refrain from interfering in political and administrative affairs” and called for the formation of a full SC bench to hear constitutional matters. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar Tuesday tabled the Supreme Court( Practice & Procedure) Bill-2023. 

The development came a day after 2 SC  — Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail — raised questions over the powers of the CJP, saying the apex court “cannot be dependent on the solitary decision of one man, the Chief Justice”. The debate was formally initiated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and hit out at the judiciary and Imran Khan and asked the parliamentarians “to decide if they want to continue with the prevailing law of the jungle in the country or legislate for upholding the rule of law”. He also made talks with Khan conditional to the latter’s public apology for his past action. Sharif trmed  the dissenting note "a ray of hope". The law minister, while speaking on the floor of the house, said the apex court's reputation was damaged due to the actions taken in the name of suo motu notices.

The bill includes shifting the powers of taking suo motu notice from the chief justice to a three-member committee comprising three senior judges. Moreover, the bill also includes a clause regarding the right of challenging the decision which could be filed within 30 days and will then be fixed for a hearing in two weeks’ time.According to the bill every clause, appeal or matter before the Supreme Court shall be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by the committee comprising the CJP and two senior judges, in order of seniority.