Islamabad: After the approval of the Federal Cabinet, the National Assembly passed the Army, Air Force and Navy Amendment Act bill to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court and High Court.
According to the details, in the session of the National Assembly presided over by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, the motion to suspend the question period before the resolution was presented by the Law Minister in the National Assembly, which was approved by majority vote.
After that, the Law Minister presented the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Ordinance in the National Assembly for approval, in which the number of judges of the Supreme Court has been proposed to be increased to 34, while the number of judges in the Islamabad High Court has been proposed to be increased to 12.
During the presentation of the bill, the opposition raised slogans in the National Assembly, but during this time, the Federal Law Minister informed the House about the points of the bill and said that thousands of cases are pending in the Supreme Court registry, which It is necessary to increase the number of judges on the basis.
Along with this, the Law Minister presented the Islamabad High Court Amendment Bill 2024 in the National Assembly and said that the number of judges in the High Court is being increased from 9 to 12.
After that, the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act Amendment Bill 2024, the bill related to increasing the number of judges of the High Courts was also presented in the House which was approved by a majority vote.
Then Federal Minister of Defense Khawaja Asif presented the bill to amend the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force Act in the National Assembly, which was approved by a majority vote.
During the passage of the resolution, the opposition raised a ruckus, raised noise while surrounding the speaker’s dais and tore copies of the bill and threw them, during which the members also clashed.
Draft Amendment Bill It is written in the amendment bill that if possible, an appeal against the decision given by the constitution bench under clause three of article 184 can be appealed in the larger constitution bench within 30 days. will apply.
The amendment bill states that clauses 7-A and 7-B have also been added to the Practice and Procedure Act, each case of appeal will be heard on first-in first-out basis. has been done
The Bill states that the hearing of every suit, matter or appeal in the Supreme Court shall be recorded and an official transcript shall also be prepared, the recording and transcript shall be made available to the public, court proceedings on payment of a fee of fifty rupees per page. A certified copy may be used for judicial proceedings.
It is written in the amendment bill that under Article 191-A, every case, appeal and revision request will be decided by a three-member committee, the committee will include the Chief Justice of Pakistan, senior judges of the Supreme Court, and the most senior judges of the Constitutional Benches. In case the judge is not nominated, the committee will consist of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the most senior judge of the Supreme Court.
It is written in the bill that if the Chief Justice of Pakistan or the senior most judge of the Supreme Court is nominated for the constitution benches, then the next senior judges of the constitution benches will be members of the committee.
Draft Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment Bill According to the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment Bill approved by the National Assembly, a member of the Constitutional Bench will be included in the committee on the formation of constitutional benches. A member of the Constitution Benches may be included as a member of the Committee.
In the amendment bill, it is written that the committee headed by the Chief Justice will consist of three members, the Chief Justice, a senior judge and a member of the Constitution Bench will be members of the committee.
