Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the “Parliament can completely abolish the SC rules if they are against the Constitution and the law”.
The remarks came as during the hearing of the petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 — the law seeking to regulate discretionary powers of the country’s top judge, presided over by SC’s 15-judge full bench.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa led the full-court bench consisting of 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 is hearing the case.
The hearing was broadcast live on state-run PTV. In yesterday’s hearing, CJP Isa had observed that parliament passed the law with “good intentions”.
During Tuesday’s hearing, when the chief justice intervened and urged the members to first let Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) counsel Faisal Siddiqui complete his arguments, Justice Munib observed: “Being a part of the bench, I have the right to ask questions.”
Responding to his remarks, the CJP said: “Obviously, you can ask questions, but first let the lawyer complete his arguments.”
To this, while addressing the lawyer, Justice Akhtar replied: “[…] my problem is my question, please answer it.” The CJP further told the fellow judge to write his observations in the verdict if he had already “made up his mind”. Tuesday’s hearing began with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) lawyer Faisal Siddiqi’s arguments. The counsel stated that he would base his arguments on two cases — the Baz Kakar case and the top court’s verdict on the Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Act 2023.
