The upper house of parliament passed the judiciary-centric bills in the Senate shortly after they were passed by the National Assembly.
The house passed the bills tabled by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar amid opposition’s protest. One of the bills sought to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court up to 34 in a bid to clear the backlog of cases.
Earlier, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar tabled “The Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill, 2024” in the lower house of parliament chaired by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.
Highlighting the salient features of the bill, the law minister said under the amendment bill, the number of judges may be increased up to 34. He explained that this move was aimed at tackling the backlog of cases at the apex court and emphasised that the number of judges would be adjusted over time-based requirements.
“This amendment will increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court up to 34, so that the backlog of cases can be cleared, and that after the 26th amendment, we can have judges to form the constitutional benches.”
During today’s session, the House passed six bills including, “The Supreme Court Practice and Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and “The Islamabad High Court (Amendment) bill, 2024.
Under the Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the minister said that the number of judges at the IHC has been enhanced from 9 to 12.
In addition to this, the minister also presented a bill seeking to amend the SC (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023.
“On commencement of the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (XXVI of 2024), the Supreme Court of Pakistan is mandated to hear constitutional cases specifically under Articles 184, I 85(3) and 186 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” read the bill.
“In order to make consistent the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 (XVII of 2023) with the new constitutional mandate, it is required that the said Act of 2023 shall be suitably amended.”
It further said that the proposed amendments will encompass some of the amendments proposed by the said Ordinance and once the proposed bill is enacted, the said Ordinance will be withdrawn.
