The federal cabinet on Friday, via circular, approved the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance, a day after the Law Ministry forwarded it.
The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 had sought to regulate the powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) by devolving them to a three-member committee comprising the CJP and the next two senior-most judges of the apex court. It had stated that the committee would decide, with majority consensus, the constitution of benches, fixation of cases and appeals, and the exercise of Article 184(3).
The law had also called for the formation of a bench of no less than five judges for matters requiring the interpretation of the Constitution and granted the right of appeal for verdicts rendered under Article 184(3)’s jurisdiction.
The new ordinance, signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari, seeks to amend the law, allowing the CJP to appoint another judge to serve on the committee if one of its member judges is unavailable for any reason. This is aimed at ensuring cases are taken up and fixed on urgent basis even if one of the members of the committee is unavailable.
The ordinance also states that all cases should be taken up in the order they are filed, adding that if any case is taken up out of turn, a reason would need to be furnished to justify it. “Each case and appeal will be recorded and its transcript will be prepared, which will be available to the public,” it added.