Top court stays implementation of Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill

The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Thursday. 

“The bill will not be implemented whether the president signs it or not,” read the eight-page order written by CJP Umar Atta Bandial.

It added: “A point was also raised regarding the independence of the judiciary. The independence of the judiciary has directly interfered.”

There is no option but to stay the implementation of the bill through an interim order. The court is concerned about institutional independence."

An eight-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court held the hearing on the petitions challenging the bill, aimed at clipping the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan for initiating suo motu proceedings and constituting benches on his own.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial had on Wednesday formed the larger bench to hear the four identical petitions. Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed are the other members of the larger bench.

As the hearing proceedings were set into motion, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and the lawyers of the petitioners Azhar Siddique advocate and Imtiaz Siddiqui appeared before the court.

The Supreme Court issued notices to the government, the attorney general for Pakistan, political parties, bar councils, and others pertaining to petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023.

CJP Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked that the court has the utmost respect for the Parliament and issued notices to AGP, political parties, bar councils and others. He said the court needs assistance on the bill passed by the Parliament. 

"It is to be seen whether the bill is ultra vires to the Constitution or not," Justice Bandial said while rejecting the petitioner's request for issuing an order to block the notification of the bill.

An eight-judge bench of the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing until next week, the final date for which will be announced later.

Petitioner Raja Amir's lawyer, Azhar Siddique, opened the arguments and stated that the case was of "great importance" due to the ongoing situation. He added after the Qasim Suri case, the political divide across the aisles had increased significantly. He continued that the political crisis in the country had proliferated after the restoration of the National Assembly.

In his arguments, Imtiaz Siddiqui said the political crisis emerged after the restoration of the National Assembly. The federal government and the ECP are not ‘interested’ in holding elections after which the apex court had to take suo motu notice.

After the decision, the judges were criticized for which the government, ministers and the members of the parliament were ‘responsible’, he added.

Imtiaz Siddiqui said that the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 is against the independence of the judiciary. The bill was rejected but later it was passed by the joint session of the parliament, he maintained and added as per Article 191 of the Constitution the Supreme Court forms its rules and procedure.

Supreme Court rules are available, which cannot be amended by the Parliament, he added. To this, the CJP remarked: “You mean to say that the freedom of judiciary is basic fundamental which is safeguarded by the Constitution.”

CJP Bandial said the next hearing of the case will be decided after consultation with fellow judges and added that the court will release the order of today’s hearing.

The court will resume the hearing on May 2.

Reporter Amanat Gishkori