By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: The government Monday has refused to hand over the record of parliamentary proceedings on the Su-preme Court Practice and Procedure Act 2023 to the court, according to official sources. The attorney general’s Office had requested the records, but the government has stated that the National Assembly speaker’s office is the custodi-an of the records of the parliamentary proceedings.
Previously, the Supreme Court had directed the registrar to request the parliamentary records from the speaker’s of-fice. The registrar had sought the records of the last five National Assembly proceedings and the Senate’s standing committee on finance, but the speaker’s office refused to provide the records.
The SC is hearing petitions filed against the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, aimed at curtailing the chief justice’s power to take suo motu notice. The bill requires any matter invoking the exercise of original jurisdiction under clause 3 of Article 184 of the constitution to first be placed before the committee for examination, and if the committee reckons that a question of public importance concerning enforcement of any of the fundamental rights is involved, it should constitute a bench comprising not less than three judges of the apex court that might include the members of the committee for adjudication of the matter.
An eight-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, heard the case on (Tuesday) May 2. The chief justice remarked that the case was related to the independence of the judiciary, and he expected all parties to submit serious arguments in the case.
During the hearing, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) lawyer Hassan Raza Pasha requested the formation of a larger bench and the exclusion of Justice Naqvi from the bench due to several references filed against him.
However, the chief justice rejected the plea, stating that it was his prerogative to constitute benches and that no judge could be excluded from the bench on the basis of a reference filed against him.
The Supreme Court has halted the implementation of the bill until further notice, despite it not becoming an act of Parliament at that time. Earlier, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of the case till May 8, waiting for the re-sponses from political parties and lawyers’ organisations.
