The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Attorney General for Pakistan Usman Mansoor Awan to submit the record of National Assembly’s proceedings on the judicial reforms by today (Tuesday).
The direction from an eight-member larger bench came during a hearing of the pleas challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023.
An eight-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed, was hearing the pleas.
On the previous hearing, CJP Bandial had turned down the attorney general’s plea to withdraw the stay order restricting implementation on the bill, which the top court had passed on April 13.
The court had also sought the NA proceedings records on the previous hearing, which couldn’t be presented today.
At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan requested the bench to constitute a full court to hear the pleas. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-N’s lawyer Salahuddin Ahmed also informed the court that they have also filed a similar plea seeking the formation of a full court.
During the hearing, the bench questioned the motives behind the government’s demand of a full court.
The top judge remarked that the court had to decide for future, the circumstances in which the bench can order the