ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly of Pakistan notified the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, a law that curtails the powers of the chief justice, as an act on Friday, thereby codifying it into law.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government is currently involved in a row with the Supreme Court over the holding of snap polls in two provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where former PM Imran Khan had dissolved the local governments earlier this year in a bid to force early elections.
The government says it is economically not viable to hold snap elections first and then have another general election this year, scheduled for October.
The Supreme Court last month ordered the snap polls be held in the two provinces within 90 days of the dissolution of the two local governments, which falls by April 30. This month, the Supreme Court ruled that a decision by the country’s national regulator to postpone polls in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province to October 8 was unconstitutional, ordering polls in Punjab to be held on May 14.
“Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) is deemed to have been assented by the President W.e.f 21 April 2023, under Clause (2) of the Article 75 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is hereby published for general information,” the National Assembly said on Twitter.
The new law has cut down the chief justice’s powers to constitute panels, hear appeals or assign cases to judges in his team.
These tasks will now be done by a three-member committee headed by the chief justice with his two most senior judges as members.
