Govt likely to bulldoze disputed bills through NA today

Coalition to pass ATA amendment, SC judges bills, Treasury MPs told to ensure presence in houses

ISLAMABAD:

The ruling coalition is likely to pass today (Monday) two proposed pieces of controversial legislation: one authorizing three-month long detention of suspects in terrorism cases and the other seeking to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 17 to 25.

The PML-N led federal government is also scheduled to table the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Ordinance, 2024 in the National Assembly today (Monday). The ordinance seeks to change the constitution of a three-member Supreme Court committee that forms benches and lists cases.

The ruling coalition has instructed its lawmakers to ensure their presence in the NA and Senate sittings, whose agenda were released on Sunday.

The government on Friday presented a bill in the National Assembly seeking to revive the sunset clause of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997.

This clause will allow law enforcement agencies to not only pre-emptively detain a suspect for 3 months but also provide legal cover to sweeping powers for "more effective counterterrorism operations".

Also on Friday, the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice approved a bill to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 25 amid opposition from the PTI and JUI-F.

Senator Abdul Qadir, who presented the bill in the upper house of parliament, highlighted the necessity, citing the country's growing population and escalating crime rates. "Cases are dragging on for generations, yet the number of judges remains stuck at the levels of the 1990s," he argued.

However, some analysts said the bill aimed at inducting pro-government judges to the apex court in a fresh attempt to control the judiciary which recently underwent sweeping changes under the newly passed 26th Constitutional Amendment.

The last PML-N led coalition government had introduced the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, which was later endorsed by a full-bench of the Supreme Court.

Under the law, a three-member committee comprising the chief justice of Pakistan and the two most senior SC judges was responsible for deciding the formation of benches and the listing of cases.

However, in September this year, President Asif Ali Zardari promulgated the SC (Practice and Procedure) Ordinance, 2024 which empowered the chief justice to appoint any SC judge as the third member of the committee.

The ordinance was widely seen in the context of tensions within the apex court, with the two most senior SC judges—Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar—disagreeing with former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa on more than one occasion regarding the listing of politically sensitive cases.

The NA agenda for today includes seven items. PPP's Sahar Kamran will highlight through a calling attention notice the low ranking of Pakistan in the Rule of Law index 2004.

According to the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index, Pakistan ranks 129th out of 142 on the scale of rule of law. Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar will also take the house into confidence with regard to the country's ranking on the index.

The agenda also includes another calling attention notice regarding grounding of the PIA aircraft.

The Senate has also issued a 39-item agenda, according to which three new bills will be presented in the upper house while the house will also review reports of its standing committee on 11 other bills.

Meanwhile, the timing for today's National Assembly session has been changed. The National Assembly spokesperson stated that the session will now be held at 4 pm instead of 5 pm.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also called an important meeting of the federal cabinet for today.

Commenting on the proposed bill on the SC, PML-N leader Barrister Aqeel Malik said a false impression is being created that the government intends to appoint its own judges.

HRCP expresses concern

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Sunday expressed concern over the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2024, which, it said, is tantamount to legalizing the use of enforced disappearances and internment centres.

"Additionally, the grounds for such detention are imprecise and subjective and do not meet the threshold for the derogation of rights under article 4, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"As such, the amendment is open-ended rather than referring to temporary or exceptional circumstances. The HRCP strongly urges the government to withdraw this bill and formulate legislation and a plan of action that cannot be abused as a means of violating citizens' fundamental rights," it said.