SC’s suo motu jurisdiction: Senate panel passes constitutional amendment

ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Wednesday passed the constitutional amendment that aims to regulate the suo motu jurisdiction of Supreme Court, unanimously proposing that Article 184(3) of the constitution be amended to include the right of appeal in it.

The panel met under the chair of Syed Ali Zafar from the ruling party - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The committee reviewed the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2022 that seeks amendments in Article 184 as well as other articles, moved by Farooq Naek from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The Senate panel unanimously proposed that Article 184(3) of the constitution be amended to include the right of appeal therein.

“The suo motu jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 184 of the constitution is an extremely important judicial function as it enables the court to enforce the fundamental right of citizens. But, at the same time, the right to appeal against the judgement must be provided in accordance with Islamic injunctions”, the chairman committee stated.

Article 184 (3) provides that the SC shall, if it considers that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights is involved, have the power to make an order.

The committee also discussed in detail the constitutional amendments related to the role of the parliamentary panel on judges’ appointment. The panel proposed that in Article 178, the criteria shall be based on seniority cum fitness “so that the recent controversy should be laid to rest”. However, the appointment of the chief justice of Pakistan should remain on seniority basis alone, the committee recommended.

The committee also decided to hold a public hearing from the 30th of this month in Multan, Lahore, Peshawar and Abbottabad to “debate, discuss and deliberate” upon the creation of new provinces.

The Senate panel took up the Protection of Parents Bill 2022 presented by Law Minister Farogh Naseem.

The committee asked the minister to amend the law as “a parent should not be allowed to throw out a child who is a minor nor should the minor be punished with one-year imprisonment as it would be unconstitutional and badly affect family life”.

Naek and Kamran Murtaza objected to the powers granted in the bill to deputy commissioners and police to arrest the children and evict them without course to the courts of law. It was decided that the law minister will bring an amended bill to the committee to address these issues.

Apart from Law minister, the senators; Farooq Naek, Kamran Murtaza, Manzoor Kakar, Shahadat Awan, Abdul Qadir, Shafiq Tareen, and Secretary Law Raja Naeem Akbar attended the committee meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022