Govt for right to appeal against SC decisions in suo moto cases

24th amendment bill, Companies Ordinance presented in NA

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday introduced the 24th Constitutional Amendment bill in the National Assembly to provide the right to appeal against the Supreme Court’s decision in suo moto cases and for appeal to be listened by a bench larger than the bench that had passed orders.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab introduced the constitutional amendment bill which provides for an appeal within 30 days of an order of the Supreme Court under Clause 3 of Article 184, to be heard by a bench larger than the bench which passes the order under appeal.

Through the new proposed constitutional amendment in Article 184 of the Constitution, the government proposed a new clause 4 and 5 in Article, after Clause 3, which stated that “(4) Any person aggrieved by an order passed by the Supreme Court under clause (3) may be, within 30 days of the passing of such order, prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court.

“(5) An appeal preferred under clause 4 shall be heard by a bench larger than the bench which had passed the order under appeal.”

According to the statement of Objects and Reasons of the proposed constitutional amendment, at present there is no provision for appeal against an order of the Supreme Court  exercised of its original jurisdiction under Clause (3) of Article 184 of the Constitution. Since such an order invokes a question of public importance with reference to enforcement of fundamental rights conferred by Chapter 1 of Part II, an aggrieved party should have the right to appeal, which shall also be in conformity with the fundamental right to fair trial and due process conferred by the Article 10-A of the Constitution.

The proposed amendment provides for an appeal within 30 days of an order of the Supreme Court under Clause 3 of Article 184 of the Constitution, to be heard by a bench larger than the bench which had passed the order under appeal.

APP adds: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar here presented the Companies Bill 2016 in the National Assembly.

The Companies Ordnance 2016 has been promulgated through a presidential ordnance and has now been laid before the National Assembly as required under Clause 2 of Article 89 of the Constitution.

The minister said the bill had been finalised after extensive consultations with all the stakeholders to introduce the best international corporate practices in Pakistan. He pointed out that there was a dire need to revamp the 32-year-old Companies Ordinance 1984 in order to provide an improved competitive legal framework for the corporate sector in Pakistan.

The minister stated that all stakeholders expressed their unanimous support for enacting the Companies Bill 2016 and expressed the hope for its enactment at the earliest in order to help address the longstanding demand of the business community. He observed that the bill provided major emphasis on ease of doing business.