ISLAMABAD: The newly-elected member National Assembly of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Mohsin Leghari on Wednesday strongly objected to the legislation on curtailing the discretionary powers of the chief justice of Pakistan including powers to take suo motu notices, saying the law allows the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take decisions on its procedural matters.
Speaking in the National Assembly during a debate on the “Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023”, Leghari, who is
a senior parliamentarian, a former senator and ex-provincial minister, did accept that the amendments in procedural matters of the apex court were needed but under existing law, the parliament cannot do any legislation with regard to procedural matters of the apex court.
Referring to Article 70 of the constitution, he said that the parliament can make legislation under the federal legislative list and the fourth schedule’s entry 55 says, “jurisdiction and powers of all court except the Supreme Court”, which he contended, “the parliament cannot make legislation about procedural matters of the apex court under the existing law”.
Article 191 of the Constitution, Leghari said that the constitution empowers the apex court to make its own rules and procedures, which he insisted is being practised since 1980.
“When we are talking about constitution of benches, etc., all these are procedural things and it’s the Supreme Court which has to do the procedural things on its own and we (the parliament) cannot interfere in its procedural matters,” he added.
Referring to Article 191 of the Constitution which says “the Supreme Court may make rules regulating the practice and procedure of the court,” Leghari reiterated that “the Supreme Court of Pakistan is supposed to do its own procedural things and not the parliament”. “We cannot interfere in the procedural matters of the apex court as per the constitution of Pakistan and it is the parliament which has empowered the apex court to make changes in its procedural matters,” he maintained.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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