NA secretariat notifies law curtailing CJP’s powers

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Secretariat Friday notified the “Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill 2023” as an act of parliament curtailing the suo motu powers of chief justice of Pakistan.

The bill — passed by a joint sitting of parliament on April 10 — was returned unsigned by President Alvi on Thursday.

An eight-member bench of the Supreme Court, however, halted the bill’s implementation.

The notification says the bill is deemed to have been given assent by the president under Article 75(2) of the Constitution and has been published in the Gazette of Pakistan.

Earlier, the bill approved by the federal cabinet on March 28 and then passed by both the houses of the parliament was sent to the president but it came back unsigned.

The president observed that the bill travelled beyond the competence of parliament. The bill proposes that every case, appeal or matter before the Supreme Court, shall be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by a committee comprising the chief justice of Pakistan and two senior-most judges in order of seniority.

It further states any matter invoking the exercise of original jurisdiction under Clause (3) of Article 184 of the Constitution shall be first placed before the committee for examination and if the committee is of the view that a question of public importance with reference to enforcement of any of the fundamental rights is involved, then it shall constitute a bench comprising not less than three judges of the apex court, which may also include the members of the committee for adjudication of the matter.

The Bill recommends that an appeal shall lie within 30 days from the final order of a bench of the Supreme Court that exercised jurisdiction to the larger bench of the apex court and such appeal shall for hearing be fixed within a period not exceeding fourteen days.

Furthermore, it grants a party the right to appoint a counsel of its choice for filing a review application.

The right of appeal shall also be available to any aggrieved party against whom an order had been passed under Article 184(3) before commencement of the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act, 2023.