ISLAMABAD – The federal cabinet has approved an amendment bill that aims atclipping the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan regarding taking suomotu notice and constituting benches.
Reports said the top judge’s discretionary power of taking a suo motunotice would be revoked and it would be given to three senior judges of thetop court.
An immediate meeting of the federal cabinet was called to get approval forthe amendments before presenting them in the National Assembly.
The development comes after Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday urgedthe National Assembly to make legislation to curtail powers enjoyed by thechief justice of Pakistan.
Read Top Stories
The made the call while speaking in the National Assembly a day afterSupreme Court’s Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhailraised objections over “one man show” powers of the top judge in theirdetailed judgments in the suo motu case related to elections in Punjab andKhyber Pakhtunkhwa. The premier said, “History wouldn’t forgive us iflegislation was not made”.
It all comes as the top court is hearing a petition filed by the PTI overdelay in elections in Punjab. The Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP),in its order, put off the polls till October 8 citing security andfinancial constraints.
