Incomplete NA quorum raises eyebrows

Days after speculations, the constitutional amendment-laden agenda of the National Assembly, coupled with a bill seeking to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court, finally landed in the House. However, that was the only progress it would make as the treasury failed to complete the quorum on Tuesday.

Initially, the focus was on the constitutional amendments, but it soon moved to PML-N MNA Barrister Danyal Chaudhry's bill which suggested increasing the total number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 23, including the chief justice of Pakistan.

The bill proposes amendments in Section 2 (maximum number of Supreme Court judges other than chief justice) of the Supreme Court (number of judges) Act, 1997. It states that the "number of Judges on the Supreme Court of Pakistan other than the Chief Justice shall be 22."

Though the bill seeks to increase the number of judges to deal with the backlog, political observers see the government's move as an attempt to interfere by elevating judges it feels could help when cases of a political nature are decided.

The bill has also come in the spotlight as the ruling coalition lacks the two-thirds majority required to make a constitutional amendment, especially after the Supreme Court's majority judgment on July 12 ruled that PTI is a parliamentary party and entitled to occupy reserved seats earlier distributed among other political forces.

National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub on Monday demanded that the government immediately name a new CJP in order to quell the rumours that the incumbent top judge was being given an extension. In response, the government said that the appointment would strictly adhere to constitutional provisions and laws.

A glance at the Tuesday NA agenda revealed that it included bills dealing with articles 51 (National Assembly), 59 (The Senate), 106 (Constitution of Provincial Assemblies), 177 (Appointment of Supreme Court Judges), 184 (Original Jurisdiction of SC), 193 (Appointment of High Court Judges), 198 (Seat of High Court) and 208 (Officers and Servants of Courts) of the Constitution.

Several eyebrows were raised after Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar approached National Assembly Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, who adjourned the session even before the minister could even return to his seat.

Right from the outset, PPP MNA Naveed Qamar pointed out that the session has started, but the ministers concerned were absent from the session, saying such a casual approach should not be tolerated.

The law minister, while admitting that there could be no excuse for not being present in the session, assured the deputy speaker that the ministers and others would soon be present in the assembly. However, within minutes, the session was adjourned till Friday when everyone expected that the deputy speaker would give thirty minutes to an hour for the members of the treasury benches to gather in the house and complete the quorum.