• Urges apex court to dismiss petitions against law aimed at clipping CJP’s powers
• Fresh challenge filed against newly enacted legislation

ISLAMABAD: As the top court is set to resume hearing petitions on Monday against a newly enacted law aimed at limiting the chief justice’s powers, the government has requested the Supreme Court to form a full court to consider important questions regarding the judiciary’s independence and parliament’s powers to regulate court’s procedure.

Separately, the government has also asked the court to dismiss the challenges to the law — the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023. However, on Saturday, a Lahore-based lawyer filed a fresh petition, asking the court to strike down the piece of legislation as it allegedly violated the basic structure of the Constitution.

Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, an eight-judge Supreme Court bench will on Monday resume hearing the challenges to the law.

In its request seeking a full court, the federal government has argued that the April 13 suspension of the law reflected that the apex court apparently believed that the proposed legislation was a serious encroachment upon, interference with and intrusion into the independence of the judiciary.

It insisted that it had full confidence in every judge of the Supreme Court and did not want any particular judge to hear the petition. But considering the paramount importance of the questions involved in the matter, the petitions against the law should be heard by all the SC judges.

The government said in the application that it was “fully conscious” that it was its duty to uphold the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law and that it had “never wavered” in performing this duty.

The government said it was also conscious of the doctrine of trichotomy of powers and the independent role of three pillars of the state, as expounded by the Supreme Court.

It noted that any encroachment in the domain of another institution had been frowned upon by the apex court. “Therefore, keeping in view these principles in mind, the parliament in its wisdom as the representative body of the people of Pakistan and being well aware of the constitutional scheme of separation of powers passed the Supreme Court (Practise and Procedure) Act, 2023,” the petition said.

The government insisted that the law had been passed by the parliament regulating the practice and procedure of the judicial organ of the state in the exercise of its powers under the Constitution.

“The importance of the case at hand is not any less but equally critical as it requires the power of the legislature to regulate the practice and procedure of the judicial organ on the one hand and the constitutional command to secure the independence of the judiciary on the other,” the petition said.

“To deviate from the precedent law will cause unnecessary controversy, though may be unfounded, and will not be conducive for the image of both the organ of the state,” it said.

New petition

Meanwhile, a new petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by Advocate Mudassar Hassan Jura through his counsel Hasan Irfan Khan, seeking to strike down the law.

The petition argued that the constitutional rule-making powers conferred by Article 191 of the Constitution and already exercised by the Supreme Court could not be taken away, nullified, amended or rescinded by sub-constitutional legislation or an act of parliament, especially when passed by a simple majority.

It said that constitutional powers were conferred by at least a two-thirds majority of the parliament, and they had the force of the Constitution and were superior to any law circumventing such powers.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2023