ISLAMBAD: The government plans to put up for a vote a controversial constitutional amendment bill that proposes right to appeal against an order of the Supreme Court passed in suo motu notice during the current session of the National Assembly.
The Constitution (24th Amendment) Bill was tabled before the house in November last year. In January, the NA Standing Committee on Law and Justice passed it with a majority vote and referred it back to the house for a vote.
The bill was introduced at a time (on November 18, 2016) when the Supreme Court was hearing the Panamagate case under Article 184 (original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court) of the Constitution.
The 24th Amendment bill suggests adding two new clauses — 184 (4) and 184 (5) — to Article 184.
The clauses propose that anyone aggrieved by an order passed by the Supreme Court under Clause (3) of Article 184 (suo motu case) could file an appeal in the Supreme Court and such appeals would be heard by a bench larger than the bench that passes the order.
Currently, the Constitution does not provide right to appeal in suo motu cases. The only remedy available to aggrieved persons under Article 184(3) is a review petition and that, too, is heard by the same bench that passed the order earlier.
In September 2017, the Supreme Court had dismissed a similar review petition filed by the Sharif family against the Panamagate verdict. The review petition was heard by the same bench that originally announced its verdict in the case.