ISLAMABAD: As the Supreme Court of Pakistan heard on Tuesday petitions challenging a law that would curtail the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) powers, the top judge, Qazi Faez Isa, asked his fellow judges to allow counsels to complete their arguments before questioning them after the lawyers were repeatedly interrupted by the judges.
The remark came as a 15-judge full court heard 9 challenges to the Supreme Court (Practice & Procedure) Act, 2023, which was streamed live on television.
Headed by Chief Justice Isa, the bench consists Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
The aforementioned law would require a committee of three senior judges to form benches for constitutional issues of public importance and suo motu notices, among other amendments.
The Act, which was passed by Parliament in April, has been claimed by the petitioners as an attempt by the government to curtail the CJP’s powers.
In April, the apex court, then led by former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial, barred the government from implementing the legislation until the petitions challenging it were decided.
At the previous hearing, CJP Isa observed that Parliament must not be hampered from doing something good merely because it lacks a two-thirds majority.
As the hearing began today, MQM-P’s counsel, Faisal Siddiqui, argued that the petitions should be dismissed on merit.
Siddiqui said he would not question the admissibility of the applications but discuss two rulings cited by the petitioners.
During the hearing, the CJP asked his fellow judges to allow the counsel to complete his arguments after Justice Munib Akhtar questioned the lawyer in the middle of his argument.
For his part, the MQM lawyer said petitions against the law were maintainable but should be dismissed on merit. However, the top judge responded that despite four hearings, it was the court’s performance that the case had not concluded.
Meanwhile, Siddiqui also recorded his contention that an intra-court appeal was “liberating” and both the Supreme Court and Parliament can provide for them.
Here, Justice Ahsan said the basic principle was that an appellate for the right of appeal was given by the statute which conferred the jurisdiction in the first place.
CJP inquires about political parties’ position
At one point during the hearing, Chief Justice Isa asked if any political party voted against the Act in question. For his part, Siddiqui said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposed it in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Justice Minallah remarked that the separation of powers was not restricted to the judiciary.
The top judge, Isa, also asked if the Supreme Court rules were binding on an apex court bench. Siddiqui replied in the affirmative.
Siddiqui said that the independence of the judiciary would not be threatened if the role of the top judge was reduced. He said that there was nothing in the law in question that made the Parliament the master of the roster.
CJP Isa said every institution was responsible for conducting self-accountability.
After the MQM lawyer concluded, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan came to the rostrum and said he would try to complete his submissions within an hour.
However, the top judge asked the AGP if he was available tomorrow and suggested that the hearing could be resumed on Wednesday morning. Awan replied in the affirmative, after which CJP adjourned the proceedings.
