The Supreme Court will resume hearing the petitions challenging the controversial Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, seeking to regulate the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan. An eight-member larger bench – headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed – will conduct the hearing on the case on May 2 (Tuesday). The Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), Supreme Court Bar Association and Pakistan Bar Council have been issued notice in this regard. Moreover, the apex court has also issued notice to nine political parties including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). During the last hearing of the case on April 13, the top court had stopped the implementation of the act observing That if the law received the assent of the president, the bill would not be acted upon in any manner till further order. “The moment that the Bill receives the assent of the President or (as the case may be) it is deemed that such assent has been given, then from that very moment onwards and till further orders, the Act that comes into being shall not have, take or be given any effect nor be acted upon in any manner,” read the 9-page interim order issued on April 13. In its order, the bench stated that the facts and circumstances presented here are extraordinary both in import and effect. Despite the top court’s stay order, the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 was notified as an act by the federal government on April 21.
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