SUPREME COURT (PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE) BILL, 2023: SC freezes, govt notifies

The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 has become a law after being passed by the National Assembly, fulfilling all the necessary requirements and regulations, said the National Assembly spokesman. In a statement, he said the secretary of the National Assembly had issued a Gazette notification to Printing Corporation in this regard. The president had returned the bill without his signature for reconsideration, but after fulfilling all demands and regulations, it had been approved and notified for the gazette, the spokesman added. He said, “After completing all stages of approval, the National Assembly Secretariat has officially issued the notification. The Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill is now enforced as law.” President Dr Arif Alvi had returned the bill unsigned to parliament, twice. The apex court itself “pre-emptively” stopped the enforcement of a bill that sought to clip the powers of the chief justice to initiate suo motu proceedings or form benches. The court ruled that whether the bill received the president’s assent or it was deemed to have been given, “the act that comes into being shall not have, take or be given any effect (and) not be acted upon in any manner”. Through the Act, the federal government limited the CJP’s powers to take suo motu notice as well as powers to constitute benches on his own in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to order elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa within 90 days of their dissolution, among other such decisions. The federal cabinet amended the suo motu powers of the CJP, saying that the top judge of the country can’t automatically initiate suo motu proceedings and proposed that three judges of the Supreme Court would decide if the court should initiate suo motu proceedings in a particular matter. The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 aims to give the power of taking suo motu notice to a three-member committee comprising senior judges, including the chief justice. It also aims to have transparent proceedings in the apex court and includes the right to appeal. Regarding the formation of benches, the act states that every cause, matter or appeal before the apex court would be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by a committee comprising the CJP and the two senior-most judges. It added that the decisions of the committee would be taken by a majority. Regarding the apex court’s original jurisdiction, the act said that any matter invoking the use of Article 184(3) would first be placed before the committee. The act says that if the committee is of the view that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II of the Constitution is involved, it shall constitute a bench comprising not less than three judges of the SC which may also include the members of the committee, for adjudication of the matter. On matters where the interpretation of the Constitution is required, the act said the committee would compose a bench comprising no less than five apex court judges for the task. Regarding appeals for any verdict by an apex court bench that exercised jurisdiction under Article 184(3), the act said that the appeal would have to be filed within 30 days of the bench’s order for a larger SC bench. It added that the appeal would be fixed for hearing within a period not exceeding 14 days. It added that this right of appeal would also extend retrospectively to those aggrieved persons against whom an order was made under Article 184(3) prior to the commencement of this act on the condition that the appeal was filed within 30 days of the act’s commencement. The act additionally said that a party would have the right to appoint its counsel of choice for filing a review application under Article 188 of the Constitution. Furthermore, it states that an application pleading urgency or seeking interim relief, filed in a cause, appeal or matter, shall be fixed for hearing within 14 days from the date of its filing. The act said that its provisions would have effect notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, rules, or regulations for the time being in force or judgement of any court, including the SC and high courts.