The Pakistan government on Tuesday night introduced a bill in Parliament to curtail the discretionary powers of the chief justice, hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that "history would not forgive us" if Parliament did not enact laws to curtail the powers of the country's top judge.

Law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented 'The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023', which was approved by the Cabinet earlier in the evening.

The development comes a day after two Supreme Court judges questioned the suo motu powers of the country's top judge.

Tarar said that the bill prepared by the law ministry was deliberated by the cabinet and after its approval, he was presenting the bill before Parliament.

Providing details, he said that the bill ensures that "every cause, appeal or matter before the Supreme Court shall be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by the Committee comprising the Chief Justice of Pakistan and two senior-most judges, in order of seniority" and the decisions of such a committee shall be by majority.

With regards to suo motu powers, the draft states that any matter invoking the exercise of original jurisdiction under Article 184 (3) shall be first placed before the committee of three senior-most judges.

"..If the Committee is of the view that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II of the Constitution is involved, it shall constitute a bench comprising not less than three judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan which may also include the members of the Committee, for adjudication of the matter,” it adds.

The legislation also allows appeals within 30 days of a verdict being issued on a suo motu case and enforces that a bench be constituted to hear such an appeal within 14 days.

"An appeal shall lie within thirty days from a final order of a bench of the Supreme Court who exercised jurisdiction under clause (3) of Article 184 of the Constitution to a larger bench of the Supreme Court and such appeal shall, for hearing, be fixed within a period not exceeding fourteen days,” according to the proposed bill.

Following the bill's presentation, a number of parliamentarians demanded that the bill should be sent to a committee to discuss it and report back before voting. As the law minister did not oppose the demand, the speaker announced sending the bill to a committee with the hope that it would present its report soon.

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