Pak nat'l assembly slams judiciary for 'political instability'; PM urges to curb powers of CJ

The Pakistan National Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution asking the Supreme Court (SC) to "refrain from interfering in political and administrative affairs" amid the government's attempt to curb the powers of the country's Chief Justice. 

The assembly also called for the formation of a full SC bench to hear constitutional matters, The Dawn reports.

With the resolution, the lower house of parliament called for "non-interference" in matters related to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), besides demanding same-day elections in the country under impartial caretaker set-up in line with Article 224 of the Constitution.

"This house believes that an unnecessary intrusion of the judiciary in the political matters is the main cause of political instability," reads the resolution presented by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.

"The House endorses the decision of four judges of the apex court in the suo motu case relating to holding elections and supports their opinion, hoping that the SC would refrain from meddling into the political and administrative matters of the country," it added.

The bill and the resolution were tabled by the government in the assembly after the lawmakers during a one-sided proceeding delivered fiery speeches in which they lambasted the superior court over "judicial activism" and the PTI for allegedly trying to spread anarchy in the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in the debate initiated by him, hit out at the judiciary and Imran Khan and asked the parliamentarians "to decide if they want to continue with the prevailing law of the jungle in the country or legislate for upholding the rule of law". 

He said that "history would not forgive us" if parliament did not enact laws to curtail the powers of the chief justice, a day after two Supreme Court judges - Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail - questioned the suo motu powers of the country's top judge.

The two judges lashed out at the case of suo motu notice taken by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on February 22 about elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

The suo motu power is based on the original jurisdiction of the court under Article 184 of the Constitution. However, its usage over the years has created an impression of partiality on the Chief Justices' part.

It was openly challenged for the first time by the two judges who were part of a bench that, in its 3-2 majority decision of March 1, directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consult with President Arif Alvi for polls in Punjab and Governor Ghulam Ali for elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The five-member bench was reconstituted by Bandial, who took a suo motu action against the delay in elections and initially formed a nine-member bench to deal with the issue. However, two of the nine judges differed with the decision to take suo motu notice, while two other judges recused themselves, prompting the Chief Justice to form a new bench.

Justice Shah and Justice Mandokhail, in their detailed 28-page dissenting note, also rejected the 3-2 judgment in the suo motu case by saying that it was a 4-3 judgment to reject the maintainability of the case and lambasted the Chief Justice's power to form a bench for important cases.

The coalition government led by Prime Minister Sharif, which is supporting the ECP's decision to delay the election in the two provinces until October 8, is trying to use the parliament to curtail the powers of the Chief Justice.

The premier said that the courts were treating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan favourably and were not ready to hold Khan accountable.

Shehbaz Sharif also urged the CJP to carry out the forensic analysis of the audio of a sitting judge in which he could be heard discussing political matters.