ISLAMABAD: The treasury and opposition benches in the National Assembly highly challenged the orders of the Supreme Court to the lower house of parliament to hand up the record of proceedings regarding a bill on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court (Practise and Procedure) Act, 2023, which seeks to control the chief justice’s powers and transfer them to a committee, has been requested by the supreme court.
After considerable opposition from the benches, NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf charged a committee constituted earlier today to investigate ex-CJP Saqib Nisar’s audio leak with overseeing the surrender of the record to the Supreme Court.
An eight-member bench of the Supreme Court, which is currently hearing petitions against the controversial law, had earlier directed Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan to produce copies of the standing committee and house proceedings “to understand the views and concerns of the lawmakers while passing the bill.”
In response to the protests of members, the NA speaker stated that he would not “compromise” on parliament’s sovereignty. “There should be no doubt that the house is supreme when it comes to matters concerning the country.”
The members expressed their displeasure with the top court’s orders a day earlier, and in an apparent tit-for-tat move, approved the formation of a committee to investigate the alleged leak of a conversation between the son of former CJP Saqib Nisar and another person, in which the former allegedly demanded Rs12 million for a party ticket in the Punjab Assembly elections.
Khawaja Asif criticizes Supreme Court
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated earlier on the floor of the house that two institutions — the parliament and the Supreme Court — have clashed. In reference to the Supreme Court’s infighting, he stated that there appears to be a difference of opinion among those who interpret the Constitution. The defence minister proposed forming a commission to investigate the outcomes of orders issued by former Chief Justice of Pakistan Muhammad Munir and others.
The minister stated that when the Constitution has been violated in the past, it was allowed by judges and that we are at a critical juncture in history. He stated that while we respect the court, we disagree to courts exceeding their constitutional authority. Asif reminded the courts that there were over 400,000 cases pending and asked them to meet with the parliament once the cases were completed. The minister also suggested giving the assembly the status of a committee and summoning Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi stated in his speech that the house’s record cannot be handed over to the Supreme Court without first consulting NA members. He stated that this is a grave concern. This house is supreme, and it is the Supreme Court’s creator. Noor Alam Khan, a leader of the PTI and the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee stated that the Supreme Court has not been audited in at least a decade. The PTI leader added that his committee had inquired about the salaries of judges.
