ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa Tuesday posed a question as to how the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 could diminish the powers of the top court.
He made these remarks as the 15-member full court heard pleas against the law which requires the formation of benches on constitutional matters of public importance by a committee of three senior most judges of the court. Like the previous hearing, the hearing is being streamed live on state-owned television.
The CJP also hinted that the court wants to conclude the case today. Lawyer Ikram Chaudhry argued that the parliament, by enacting the law, entered into an area not in Parliament’s domain. “Is Parliament not competent to legislate in relation to access to justice?” asks Justice Minallah.
Headed by CJP Isa, the bench consisted of Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul 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.
The Supreme Court, then led by former CJP Umar Ata Bandial in April had barred the government from implementing the bill seeking to curtail the chief justice of Pakistan’s powers once it became a law.
