The Supreme Court (SC) is set to resume hearing today (Monday) at 12:30 pm on petitions challenging the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, which curtails the powers of the Chief Justice.
An 8-member larger bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Atta Bandial, comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Syed Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Ijaz. Al-Ahsan is included. Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed will hear the petitions.
At the previous hearing, Chief Justice Bandyal had rejected the Attorney General’s plea to withdraw the injunction to stay the implementation of the bill, which had been granted by the Supreme Court on April 13.
“Our final hearing order is pending. The Chief Justice said that the law regarding Supreme Court rules is very clear.
Meanwhile, a request for constitution of a full court to hear the case and removal of some judges from the bench was also made during the previous hearing.
While adjourning the hearing till today, Chief Justice Bandyal directed all the parties in the case to submit written arguments and also called for the record of the debate in the Parliament and the Standing Committee on Judicial Reforms.
“We will resume the case on Monday (May 8) and then examine all the issues,” Chief Justice Bandyal said.
Background
The bill, aimed at regulating the powers of the Chief Justice, was approved by Parliament during a joint session on April 10.
The National Assembly notified the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 as an Act on April 21.
The same bench hearing the case today stayed the implementation of the bill.
The Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the law on April 13 and said that if the law gets the President’s assent, the bill will not be implemented in any way till further orders.
“The moment the Bill receives the assent of the President or (as the case may be) is deemed to have been given such assent, from that moment and until further orders, the Act shall not be in force. Read the nine-page interim order issued on April 13.
In its order, the bench held that the facts and circumstances presented herein are unusual both in import and effect.
