Justice Isa vows to conclude case
ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa vows to conclude the hearing of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 on Tue.
He said that the apex court could not prolong this case.
The full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa resumed the hearing of the case. The full bench consists of 15 judges, including chief justice.
The court resumed the hearing of petitions challenging the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act on Tuesday. The state-run TV is showing live proceedings of the case.
The full court bench is composed of Chief Justice Isa, Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
The CJP emphasized that the Supreme Court has many pending cases and cannot allocate excessive time to a single case. He also directed the petitioner’s counsel to limit their arguments to 10 minutes.
In the previous hearing, the full court had requested responses from all parties by September 25.
Regarding the issue of the judiciary’s freedom, the federal government, in its written response to the apex court, asserted that the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 ensured the judiciary’s freedom.
In response to a question about the fate of cases heard by benches constituted by the chief justice after the enactment of the Act, the government distinguished between cases with finalized judgments and those still under consideration. It stated that cases with finalized judgments would be preserved under past transactions, while cases without final judgments would be subject to reconstitution under the Act’s provisions, with proceedings held anew.
The government also highlighted the right of appeal under Section 5 of the Act against judgments arising from Article 184(3) of the Constitution.
In response to another query, the government expressed its belief that the Constitution supports the expansion of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction and the granting of additional powers. It explained that the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction encompasses various types, including original, appellate, advisory, and review jurisdiction, as specified in the Constitution. It further noted that Parliament had expanded the Supreme Court’s territorial jurisdiction to include certain tribal areas through the Supreme Court and High Court (Extension of Jurisdiction A Certain Tribal Areas) Act, 1973.
The Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) submitted a concise statement urging the Supreme Court to dismiss the petitions challenging the SC Act. The PML-N argued that the SC Act 2023 is in line with the Constitution and should be upheld, requesting the court to dismiss the challenges and vacate the interim order issued on April 4, 2023, which had suspended the Act’s implementation. The PML-N criticized the interim order, considering it unprecedented and contrary to the jurisprudence of the apex court.
