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The federal government has once again decided to amend the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act, local media reported on Friday.
According to ARY News, the proposed amendment aims to increase the number of judges on the committee responsible for forming Supreme Court benches. This proposal is expected to be presented in parliament on Tuesday.
Members of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) will introduce the amendment bill during Private Member’s Day, with reports indicating that the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), PML-N, and MQM-P members have been instructed to ensure their attendance.
The law, passed by parliament in April 2023, establishes that a three-member bench, consisting of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) and the two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, will be responsible for forming benches and deciding whether to take up cases suo motu.
Earlier, this authority rested solely with the CJP. Moreover, the law expands the top court’s review jurisdiction, allowing appeals to be filed within 30 days of judgments in suo motu cases.
In September, the government issued an ordinance amending the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act, 2023, which grants the Chief Justice the authority to select or nominate any Supreme Court judge as the third member of the committee responsible for constituting benches and scheduling cases.
Subsequently, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court declined to join a special bench formed by the judges’ committee established under the SC (Practice and Procedure Act), 2023, for case assignments. In a letter to Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the senior puisne judge cited the same reasons he previously communicated in a letter to the committee secretary dated September 23.
