SC summons record of parliament proceedings

Rejects requests to form full court, remove Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi from bench

ISLAMABAD:

The apex court has sought record of the parliament’s proceedings with regard to the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, while rejecting requests to form a full court to hear pleas filed against the piece of legislation that curtails powers of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).

On Tuesday, when an eight-judge larger bench resumed hearing of the pleas challenging the bill, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandail noted that the court’s latest order suspending the act was provisional in nature.

He noted that democracy as well as the judiciary and federation are key features of the 1973 Constitution. “It is to be seen whether a feature [judiciary] can be changed. This is, therefore, a unique case,” he said.

The CJP said the court expected to hear a serious debate and both the sides must properly assist the bench. “This [Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure), Act 2023] is the first law in the history of the country which deals with the third pillar of the state [judiciary].”

Referring to Section 55 of the Federal Legislative List, the top judge noted that there are some limitations to the parliament’s power to legislate

Section 55 of the list says:  “Jurisdiction and powers of all courts, except the Supreme Court, with respect to any of the matters in this list and, to such extent as is expressly authorized by or under the Constitution, the enlargement of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and the conferring thereon of supplemental powers.”

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“It cannot be denied that an independent judiciary is a fundamental feature of the Constitution. It is being alleged that for the first time in the country’s history an attempt has been made to change a fundamental feature of the Constitution through legislation,” he said.

Hasan Raza Pasha, who represented the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), requested the court to form a full court to hear the petitions. “Nobody will be able to raise an objection if the [remaining] seven senior most judges are also included in the bench,” he said.

Referring to Justice Naqvi, he said six references are pending against a member of the bench. He requested the court to remove Justice Naqvi from the bench. Turning down both the requests, the bench gave an extension to its order suspending the law.

Defending Justice Naqvi, the CJP said it is the prerogative of CJP to form benches under the SC Rules 1980. He referred to the Iftikhar Chaudhry case judgment which said no judge could be stopped from judicial work if a reference is pending against him.

“Complaints are continually filed against all judges, including me,” he said.

He lamented that political entities do not want justice but favourable decisions, which is why they resorted to “pick and choose”. He said all institutions must follow the instructions issued by the SC.

Later, the court asked the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) to provide records of the parliament’s proceedings as well as meetings of the standing committee with regard to the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023.

It also asked the respondents to submit their written replies as it adjourned the hearing till May 8.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court registrar has asked the office of the National Assembly speaker in writing to provide him with the record of five NA sittings— held on April 6, April 10, April 17, April 26 and April 27. The registrar has also sought records of the NA Standing Committee on Finance.

Earlier, the NA speaker’s office had rejected the registrar’s verbal request to provide record of the parliamentary proceedings