Pakistani President Arif Alvi has returned a bill aimed at clipping the powers of the Supreme Court chief justice and giving the right to appeal in all suo motu cases with retrospective effect, citing that the proposed legislation is beyond the jurisdiction of the legislative body and is susceptible to challenge as a specious enactment. “The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 travels beyond the competence of the parliament and can be assailed as a colourable legislation,” the president said in his reply. The bill aims at depriving the chief justice of powers to take suo motu notices in an individual capacity. The bill was approved by the Cabinet on March 28, and was passed by the National Assembly after a few amendments suggested by the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. On March 30, it was passed by the Senate. In his reply. the President underlined that Article 191 of the Constitution empowered the Supreme Court “to make rules regulating the practice and procedure of the Court”. “Under such enabling provisions of the Constitution, the Supreme Court Rules 1980 have been made and in force duly validated and adopted by the Constitution.”
