Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), Mansoor Usman Awan on Thursday said that the federal government had decided to reconsider the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Bill.
He expressed these views before eight-member larger bench of the Supreme court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyad Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha A Malik, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed which heard the petitions challenging SC Practice and Procedure Bill. During the course of proceedings, the Attorney General said that this law also dealt with many other issues. He said that there were two laws, one was the Supreme Court Review of Orders and Judgments Act and the other was the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act, both the laws had similar provisions for review and hiring a lawyer.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that it was good that the Parliament and the government were amending similar laws.
The government should consult the Supreme Court regarding the legislation of the judiciary, he added.
The attorney general said that the Supreme Court (Practice & Procedure) Act, 2023 was more extensive and included provisions related to the internal affairs of the court.
It was necessary to arrive at a solution regarding which of the two legislations could be relied upon, he stressed.
The chief justice said that the Parliament could be told to look into the harmonisation of both laws. “We welcome your proposal,” he added. The AGP Awan said that the legislation done on the SC’s administrative matters did not take into account the judiciary’s advice. He said that the amendments to the law would now be made with the Supreme Court’s consultation. Other than the legislations, advice would also be sought on other matters, he added.
Advocate Imtiaz Siddiqui counsel for a petitioner said that the court had asked for the record of the parliamentary proceedings in its previous hearing.
The chief justice said that the court found out through newspaper that Parliament had declined to present the record.
All records were present on the Parliament’s website and the court had taken the record from the Parliament’s website, he added. Justice Mazhar said that it was important to see if the issue of similar laws could be solved.
If the laws were similar, it would be a waste of time to hear petitions regarding full court, he added.
The attorney general said that the matter could be sent to the Parliament for discussion.
Subsequently, the court directed the AGP to seek instructions from the government and adjourned the hearing till next week.