The Apex court struck down the Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023 as “unconstitutional”, the decision which has thwarted the aspirations of disqualified politicians who sought recourse against judgements against them
The development comes at a critical point in Pakistan’s political landscape when prospects of two prominent political figures — Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jahangir Tareen of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) — remains in limbo, as their ambitions of re-engaging in electoral politics remain threatened.
Announced by the Supreme Court’s triumvirate bench — led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — the decision came as a finale to the six hearings from June 7 to June 19, which scrutinised numerous pleas contesting the legality of the law, which had been enacted in late May.
The decision has drawn mixed reactions from the law experts and political leaders. Reacting to the decision, the former law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar termed the Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the judgements review law as “very unfortunate”, but said that it would not affect former premier Nawaz Sharif’s prospects of returning to electoral politics anytime soon.
“Courts interfere in the Parliament’s jurisdiction again and again and give verdicts that put a curb on its supremacy […] this is not a good tradition,” he lamented. Tarar added that the timing of the verdict was also painful for him as the verdict was announced after the dissolution of the National Assembly. Therefore, new legislation couldn’t be done in light of the apex court’s directives.
Lawyer Asad Rahim Khan is of the view that the law has been “rightly struck down” by the Supreme Court. “This was an indirect means to amend the Constitution, by grafting a floor of appeal on top of the Supreme Court’s existing jurisdiction,” said Khan.
A day, earlier, PM Sharif said the former premier will return to Pakistan next month, but when the law to avert disqualification has been struck down by the SC, it will be surely a point for PML-N leaders to reanalyze the situation.
