Supreme Court strikes down Review of Judgments and Orders Act 2023

The Supreme Court (SC) struck down on Friday the Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023, Aaj News reported.

The Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Bill 2023 was passed by the National Assembly on April 15 and is aimed at giving right of appeal under Article 184 of the constitution – a right which was not available in the past.

The bill states that a review petition may be filed within 60 days of the passing of the original order.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib announced the reserved verdict on petitions against the newly-enacted Act passed by the National Assembly as well as Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition against an April ruling directing the government to hold polls for the Punjab Assembly on May 14.

The bench declared the act null and void.

“We will announce the verdict after discussing it among ourselves,” the CJP had stated in the last hearing.

The attorney general had told the bench that Article 188 of the Constitution — which states that the SC has the power to review any judgment pronounced or any order made by it — did not limit the scope of a review.

He said; “Extending the scope of review in cases pertaining to Article 184(3) is not discriminatory because the appeals were filed before the apex court against the judgment/order of the high courts or tribunals, while the cases under Article 184(3) are heard under original jurisdiction.”