SC (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 not personality-specific; all litigants to be benefited: Senior Lawyers
PESHAWAR(APP): Senior lawyers and members of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) here Thursday termed the adaptation of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure Bill 2023) by the National Assembly (NA) was historic.
They said the new law was not personality-specific and equal opportunities was provided to all the litigants of Pakistan to file an appeal in cases decided under Article 184 (3) of the 1973 constitution.
Gohar Rehman Khattak, former President of Peshawar Bar Council and member PHBA told APP that the SC (Practice and Procedure Bill 2023) was a historic legislation and the Govt’s deserved appreciation for addressing an old demand of the lawyers’ community.
He said it would provide the much-needed relief to all those litigants, who were aggrieved from the judgments decided under Article 184 (3) and their confidence in judiciary would be further enhanced.
“The bill was not personality-specific, rather all Pakistanis, who were aggrieved from the judgments decided under Article 184 (3) would now get the right of appeal before SC,” said the constitutional expert. He said all those Pakistanis, who were convicted in the past in suo motu cases, would also get relief from the new legislation.
Former Prime Ministers, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Syed Youaf Raza Gillani and senior politician Jahangir Tareen may also get relief from the new law, he said.
Under the new law, any aggrieved person may file an appeal against the SC’s verdict within 30 days of the commencement of this law. “This historic legislation was not against anyone rather would strengthen peoples’ confidence in the prevailing justice system in Pakistan,”
“The right of appeal in suo moto cases was the oldest demand of the lawyers’ forums/bodies of Pakistan, and with the adaptation of the historic legislation by the National Assembly the other day, this demand has now been fulfilled after decades,” said Ashfaq Malik, a senior constitutional lawyer.
He said the new law was direly felt after two judges of the supreme court, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Mandokhel have recently written dissenting notes in their detailed judgment in the suo moto case taken by CJP on the delay of elections in Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Punjab provinces.
He said the nation has seen unwanted suo motu notices during the period of former CJPs Ifitkhar Muhammad Chaudhary and Mian Saqib Nasir that led to the disqualification of former Prime Ministers Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. He said sometimes judicial activism remained counterproductive.
He said it was unfortunate that no elected prime minister has completed the five-year tenure in the country’s parliamentary history. “The state crumbles when institutions interfere in each others’ domain and in such a scenario democracy, service delivery of the government organizations and litigants suffer,” he said.
Esa Khan, former advocate general KP said the constitution of Pakistan empowers parliament to make legislation and judiciary interpret the constitution while the executive powers to run the Govt rest with the Prime Minister in parliamentary system.
Welcoming the adaptation of the SC (Practice and Procedure Bill 2023), the former AG termed it one of the significant legislation in recent years that would benefit all litigants irrespective of their political affiliations and financial status.
Under the new law, every cause, appeal or matter before SC shall be heard and disposed by a bench constituted by a committee comprising the CJP and two senior-most judges of the SC. Any matter invoking the exercise of original jurisdiction under Article 184(3) shall be first place before the committee for examination.
The new law has abolished the long culture of like and dislikes and allows the aggrieved litigants to hire lawyers of their choice for their appeals,” he said.
The senior lawyers expressed the hope that all the state institutions would work in their respective domain and support each other for national cohesion and people’s prosperity.
They said that jail reforms were also necessary to provide speedy justice to a large number of prisoners languishing in jails.
Majority of prisoners in jails are under trial prisoners that had overloaded the jails in all provinces including Khyber Pakthunkhwa. Amendments in Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Criminal Procedure Act (CrPC) were also imperative for quick dispensation of justice besides special attention for education of juvenile offenders and prisoners charged in petty nature cases in jails.
They said the country was passing through a difficult economic situation and national unity for election was required to take the ship of democracy to the safe shores.
