President Alvi returns judicial reforms bill to Parliament unsigned

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Says the bill prima facie travels beyond Parliament’s competence: Argues provisions of Constitution cannot be amended by an ordinary law

2023-04-08T11:01:00+05:00 News Desk

President Dr Arif Alvi has returned the bill curtailing the Chief Justice of Pakistan's powers unsigned to the Parliament with the request for reconsideration in order to meet the scrutiny about its validity, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In a series of tweets uploaded on President of Pakistan’s officials twitter handle on Saturday, President Alvi said he had returned the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 for reconsideration to the Parliament as per the provisions of the Article 75 of the Constitution, stating that the bill prima-facie travels beyond the competence of the Parliament and can be assailed as colourable legislation. 

Arif Alvi said he thought it fit and proper to return the bill, in accordance with the Constitution, with the request for reconsideration in order to meet the scrutiny about its validity (if assailed in the court of law).

The President argued “Thus, the Bill prima-facie travels beyond the competence of the Parliament and can be assailed as a colourable legislation. The Constitution confers the Supreme Court with Appellate Jurisdiction (Articles 185 – 212), Advisory (Article 186), Review (Article 186) and Original Jurisdiction (Article 184). Article 184(3), the focus of the Bill relates to the original jurisdiction of the Court – providing for the mode and manner for invoking it and providing Appeal.”

Arif Alvi said “The idea may be laudable but can such a purpose be achieved without amending the provisions of relevant Articles of the Constitution – established law is that the provisions of the Constitution cannot be amended by an ordinary law as the Constitution is a higher law – father of laws – a Constitution is not an ordinary law, but rather an embodiment of fundamental principles, higher law, and law above other laws.”

The Bill aimed at curtail­ing discretionary pow­ers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan in initiat­ing suo motu cases, constituting bench­es, and allocating cases was forwarded to the President for his assent after the Senate had passed it on March 30. 

The upper house of the Parliament had stamped the bill by a majority of 60-19.

A day earlier, the Na­tional Assembly had passed the bill while in­corporating last-minute changes proposed by the standing committee on law and justice. 

On Monday last, the federal cabinet in its special meeting had requested President Arif Alvi to immediately sign the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill 2023, in an effort to resolve the country's constitutional and political crisis.

The federal cabinet, in an earlier meeting, had given approval to the amendments in the suo motu powers of the CJP, saying that the top judge of the country can’t automatically initiate suo motu proceedings.

Reporter Awais Kiyani

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