Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif mocked President Dr. Arif Alvi by referring to him as a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf employee for returning the SC Bill, 2023, unsigned.
On Twitter, PM wrote that it is very regrettable that Alvi is returning the SC Bill that Parliament properly passed.
The prime minister further stated that the president has belittled his office through his actions as he is “beholden to Imran Niazi more than the Constitution and demands of his Office.”
His Twitter post comes hours after President Arif Alvi returned the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 to the parliament, citing that the proposed legislation is beyond the jurisdiction of the legislative body and susceptible to challenge as a specious enactment.
He also called for its reconsideration to meet scrutiny about its validity.
In a letter, Alvi wrote that “in order to meet the scrutiny about its validity (if assailed in the Court of law), I have thought it fit and proper as per the provisions of Article 75 of the Constitution to return the Bill with the request for reconsideration.”
The draft of the bill proposes delegating the chief justice’s powers to take suo motu notices and constitute benches to a three-member committee consisting of the CJP and two senior judges.
One of these amendments is the right to appeal against suo motu verdicts taken up to 30 days before the passing of the Lawyers’ Protection Act. Another is that any case that involves interpreting the Constitution will not have a bench with fewer than five judges.
When lawmakers demanded a thorough discussion of the bill, the National Assembly (NA) forwarded it to a legal committee on March 28.
On March 29, after the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) dropped its suggested revisions, NA cleared the measure by a simple majority.
The law was also approved by the federal cabinet. The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 received the Senate’s approval on 30 March.
The bill was then delivered to President Alvi.
