Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has hinted at concluding proceedings of petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 today (Tuesday), saying too many cases are pending in the apex court.
The remarks come as the full court bench — headed by CJP Isa and comprising 14 judges of the Supreme Court — resumed hearing petitions challenging the law seeking to curtail CJP’s discretionary powers.
The proceedings of the case are being broadcast live by state-run PTV.
The full court bench includes CJP Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
At the last hearing, the apex court’s full court had sought replies from all parties by September 25.
At the outset of the hearing, CJP Isa said the apex court would try to conclude hearings of the case today (Tuesday).
The CJP said many cases are already pending in the Supreme Court and the court cannot spend too much time on one case.
He also directed the petitioner’s counsel to complete his arguments in 10 minutes.
CJP Isa said the powers of the chief justice are not being curtailed through this legislation rather they are being devolved among the judges.
He said the impact of this law will be particularly on the chief justice and the two senior-most judges.
‘Parliament bulldozed judiciary’s independence’
Presenting his arguments, the petitioner’s lawyer Ikram Chaudhry said parliament bulldozed the independence of the judiciary through the practice Act.
“Parliament tried to breach jurisdiction through the Act,” he added.
Lawyer Chaudhry also pointed that it was also imperative to review the situation of the parliament at the time it passed the act.
“Will you base your arguments on newspaper reports?” the CJP said.
To this, the lawyer said they did not have record of parliament’s proceedings.
“Did you request the speaker in writing to provide you with the record of the proceedings?” the CJP inquired.
CJP Isa also told the counsel to avoid political discussion in the court after the latter read out the statement of former prime minister before the bench.
“Don’t do politics here, [forum of] media is available. Go and do politics there,” the CJP remarked.
The CJP said some people believed that Supreme Court and parliament have come face to face over this law.
