Number of top court judges to be raised from 17 to 25
Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Friday approved a bill to raise the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 25 despite oppositions from the PTI and JUI-F.
Chaired by Farooq H. Naek, the committee debated the bill presented by Senator Abdul Qadir who argued that rising population and crime rates have significantly increased the case load. The number of judges has not been changed since 1990s despite this demand, he said.
Senator Hamid Khan opposed the bill, stating that India, a country six times larger, had 34 judges and argued that internal conflicts within the SC had contributed to the delays.
During the committee’s meeting, the former ruling party and JUI-F lawmakers strongly opposed the decision, with PTI Senator Hamid Khan saying that they have strong reservations over such legislation. “Such a method to appoint SC judges is an attack on judicial independence,” he said.
JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza, in a statement, said the legislation was meant to appoint “favourite judges” in the top court. “After Oct 25, the judges are working in a smooth manner. There is no need to increase the sanctioned strength,” he added.
However, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Shahadat Awan emphasized the need to raise the number SC judges to at least 21. Recently, a full court meeting — chaired by newly-appointed CJP Yahya Afridi — was informed that 59,191 cases were currently pending in the apex court.
Earlier in September, an independent senator from Balochistan, Mohammad Abdul Qadir tabled a bill in Upper House of Parliament, seeking an amendment to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1997 to increase the number of top court judges to 20 sans the chief justice.
He sought the increase in the number of top court judges from 17 to 21 as “more than 59,000 cases” pending in the apex court. Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar also backed the legislation and suggested forwarding the new bill to the relevant committee.
Tarar, while addressing the Senate session, endorsed the points raised by Senator Qadir, saying several cases pertaining to capital punishments still awaiting verdicts since 2015. “A person spent 34 years in jail due to a pending appeal before the top court,” he added.
