President approves Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance

ISLAMABAD: After the approval from the federal cabinet, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday signed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024 into law, Information Minister Atta Tarar confirmed in a press conference.

According to the Ministry of Law and Justice document, a copy of which is available with Daily Ausaf, President Zardari has approved the amended ordinance by exercising powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution.

Earlier today, the federal cabinet okayed the Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance 2024, aimed at providing more powers to the chief justice. The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adopted the much-talked ordinance “through a circulation” sent by the Ministry of Law Thursday night.

According to the amendment in section 2, Act XVII of said ordinance, “Every cause, appeal matter before the Supreme Court shall be heard and disposed of by a Bench constituted by the committee comprising the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the next most senior Judge of the Supreme Court and a Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, from time to time.”

The amendment in Section 3 of the Act provided that the court bench would preside over the proceeding keeping in view the merits, fundamental human rights, and public importance.

According to the Law Ministry document, under the amended act — Section 7B, Act XVII of 2023 — the hearing of ‘every cause, matter or appeal in the Supreme Court’ shall be recorded, and the transcript thereof duly prepared and shall be made available to the public.

The Supreme Court, in its judgment of Oct 11, 2023, had declared Sub-section 2 of Section 5 of the law unconstitutional. The right to appeal against the order issued under Clause 3 of Article 184 of the Constitution has also been included in the ordinance.