- Barrister Gohar opposes the bill, noting under the Constitution, only the government can introduce such a bill
- Bill tabled in the Senate a day earlier had sought to increase apex court judges’ strength from 17 to 21
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly put on hold the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill 2024, introduced in the Senate a day earlier, proposing an increase in the number of Supreme Court judges.
PML-N’s Daniyal Chaudhry presented the bill in the lower house of the parliament, proposing to increase in the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 23.
However, PTI’s Barrister Gohar opposed the bill, noting that under Articles 74 and 81 of the Constitution, only the government can introduce such a bill.
He also opposed another bill, seeking to amend the Contempt of Court Act 2024, arguing that the judiciary must have the right to enforce its orders.
Subsequently, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq halted Chaudhry’s attempt to present the bill and deferred the motion.
Abdul Qadir, a senator from Balochistan, who does not belong to any political party, and sides with the opposition benches, moved the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the house meeting.
The bill seeks increasing the number of SC judges from 17 to 21 “to address the rising number of pending cases.”
The bill seeks substituting the Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1997 with a new provision that reads, “Maximum Number of Supreme Court Judges other than Chief Justice: The number of Judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan other than the Chief Justice shall be twenty.”
Speaking in the Upper House after tabling the bill, Senator Qadir highlighted the growing backlog of cases in the Supreme Court, citing the shortage of judges as a primary cause.
“Due to the limited number of judges, cases take years to be scheduled. Hundreds of tax-related cases involving billions of rupees are pending in courts, while we are forced to seek financial aid from other countries to meet our national needs,” he said.
There is a perception that in order to give majority to the other camp, the PML-N government is increasing the number of SC judges.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa is retiring on October 25, but the PML-N government wants that he should remain in office for the continuity of the present system.
However, CJP Isa has made it clear that he is not interested in an extension through person specific legislation. However, he may continue if parliament extends the retirement age of every superior court judge for three years.
Today’s session, chaired by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday, saw several key discussions, including concerns over a corporate farming initiative and the allocation of 4.8 million acres of land.
Other proposed bills introduced in the house
Meanwhile during the session, Federal Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik clarified that 800,000 acres of barren land have been designated for cultivation under the Green Corporate Initiative (GCI).
While responding to an attention notice from Naveed Qamar regarding changes to water flow and the allocation of land for the GCI, Malik said that the project supported by both Punjab and Sindh provinces, includes the construction of a 296-kilometre canal at a cost of Rs211 billion. He assured that Punjab would only use its own share of water without taking from other provinces.
Earlier, in his address Naveed Qamar expressed concerns, stating that a country like Pakistan could not afford such projects.
The federal minister for petroleum suggested that any confusion between the provinces could be resolved through discussion, saying if Sindh had any issues, the land could be returned.
On the occasion, Khursheed Shah emphasised the sensitivity of the matter, calling for the formation of a committee to assess the water requirement for the proposed 4.8 million acres, questioning whether Pakistan could afford the project.
On the other hand, JUI-F’s Noor Alam Khan introduced several constitutional amendment bills, including one to amend Article 184/3 related to the Supreme Court’s suo moto powers.
This proposed amendment suggests that a minimum of nine judges should hear public interest cases, and affected parties should be allowed to appeal within 30 days.
Another significant bill proposed by Khan sought to allocate reserved seats for overseas Pakistanis in the National Assembly, Senate, and provincial assemblies.
Additionally, he introduced a bill to ban dual nationality for Supreme Court and High Court judges and bureaucrats, which was opposed by the Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, citing the Establishment Division’s instructions.
