The lower house of Parliament has unanimously passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure), Bill 2023, restricting suo moto powers of the chief justice.
As the National Assembly approved the bill, an amendment was also added to it which was proposed by a lawmaker from Waziristan Mohsin Dawar. As many of the people focused on the clipping of CJP’s power, others highlighted the tweaks that give the right of appeal under sub-section (1) and will also be available to an aggrieved person against whom an order has been made under Article 184 clause (3).
The new amendment makes major differences in suo motu notices and punishments announced by the court can now be challenged.
PTI leader and legal expert Fawad Chaudhry was quick enough to respond, saying the amendment had been passed covertly to ‘facilitate PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif‘.
The former prime minister Sharif was shown the door for life back in 2017 when the Supreme Court bench disqualified him under Article 184(3) for hiding assets and hiding other financial matters including alleged salary.
PML-N leader, who is living in self-exile in London, sought a review of the judgment in 2017 but to no vain, however, with this amendment, Nawaz and other complainants can challenge the judgments under Article 184(3).
Besides PML-N chief, former prime minister and PPP leader Yousaf Raza Gillani and estranged PTI leader Jahangir Tareen can also file a review plea against their disqualification.
Bill restricting powers of Chief Justice gets National Assembly’s nod
