Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has observed that parliament passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 — the law seeking to regulate discretionary powers of the country’s top judge — with “good intentions”.
The CJP’s remarks came as the Supreme Court’s full court resumed hearing the petitions against the SC law on Monday.
During the hearing, the CJP expressed displeasure after a petitioner cited the US court’s verdict as precedent to challenge the amendments in the SC law.
CJP Isa-led full-court bench consists of 15 judges of the Supreme Court including Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Musarrat Hilali.
At the outset of the hearing, the CJP told the petitioners’ counsels to conclude their arguments early as the top court wanted to conclude proceedings of the case today.
“At least cite the decision of the US Supreme Court. Our standards have stooped so low that we are now citing a verdict of a New Jersey court,” the CJP remarked after Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Zuberi quoted a verdict to defend his objections to the law.
“This is not even a decision,” CJP Isa added.
