ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday directed the attorney general to submit by tomorrow, Tuesday, a record of parliamentary proceedings on a newly enacted law that curtails the powers of the country’s top judge, amid an ongoing tussle between the government and the higher judiciary.
The coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the country’s higher judiciary, have been at loggerheads ever since it took up a case of delays in announcing elections in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, whose legislative assemblies were dissolved by former PM Imran Khan and his allies in January to force the government to announce early national elections.
The court has ruled that the polls should be held in both the provinces within 90 days of the dissolution of their assemblies, as per the constitution, while the Sharif government insists all elections in the country should be held on the same date in October, when general elections are scheduled. In defiance of court orders, the government has refused to release funds worth Rs21 billion and arrange security in time for Punjab elections on May 14.
Amid this tussle, Pakistan's parliament in March passed a new law to curtail the powers of the Supreme Court chief justice. The government notified the law last month despite a stay order from the court, creating new discord between the judiciary and the government amid months of political and economic turmoil.
“Submit the National Assembly’s proceedings record relevant to the legislation by tomorrow,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial told Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan on Monday.
The order came as an eight-member bench of the court led by the chief justice heard a set of petitions against the new law, the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which aims to clip the powers of the chief justice to take suo motu notices in an individual capacity and hear appeals and assign cases to other judges.
Parliament first passed the bill in March but President Dr Arif Alvi, a key ally of opposition politician and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, refused to sign off on it and sent it back to parliament, saying it travelled “beyond the competence of parliament.”
A joint session of the parliament then passed the bill on April 10, but the top court barred the government from enforcing it. The ruling coalition rejected the court’s ruling and the bill became an act of parliament on April 21.
Now, whiling hearing a set of petitions against the law, the court has sought copies of the proceedings of the standing committee and the parliament “to understand the concerns and views of the lawmakers while passing the bill.”
“We expect the [parliamentary proceedings] record to be received by tomorrow,” the attorney general told the court, when asked when the record would be submitted. “We have contacted the National Assembly speaker’s office for it.”
