NA adopts SC Amendment Bill 2023

NA adopts SC Amendment Bill 2023!

On Tuesday, the National Assembly curtailed the powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan about taking a decision of Suo-Motu himself and adopted the Supreme Court Amendment Bill 2023.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar tabled the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023.

The development comes a day after, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court (SC) called for revisiting the power of the “one-man show” enjoyed by the chief justice, saying that the country’s top court could not “be dependent on the solitary decision of one man”.

Earlier in the day, the federal cabinet approved the Supreme Court Amendment Bill 2023 to hand over the Suo-Motu powers to the senior judges’ committee.

As per the cabinet summary, the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023, states the exercise of original jurisdiction by the apex court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution was a “subject of discussion by various forums”.

The bill proposes that the three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court will decide the Suo-Motu notice.

Furthermore, to grant a right to file an appeal within 30 days against the Suo-Motu decision and the appeal should be fixed for hearing within 14 days of its filing.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his speech on the floor of the house during the parliament’s joint session,  also sought parliamentary action in this regard, terming the dissenting note “a ray of hope”.

“The voices for change stemming from the judiciary itself is certainly a ray of hope for the country,” prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said,

His party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has accused the judiciary of “bench-fixing”.