ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is presiding federal cabinet meeting on Sunday (today).
The federal cabinet meeting has been summoned to mull over several matters pertaining to the recent political and constitutional crises in the country.
PM Shehbaz has not yet issued the agenda for the meeting yet.
However, President Dr Arif Alvi’s decision to return the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, Justice Athar Minallah’s dissenting note and Supreme Court’s verdict on polls would come under discussion.
The meeting will take place at the PM House at 2pm with the prime minister in the chair to devise a strategy to address the matters surrounding the bill.
The federal cabinet meeting will also approve the decisions taken during the National Security Council (NSC) meeting that took place on Friday.
A day earlier, President Alvi returned the bill curtailing the chief justice’s powers with a request for reconsideration in order to meet the scrutiny about its validity.
The bill is aimed at curtailing the powers of the chief justice — including the suo motu and the formation of benches. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has strongly condemned the move to pass the legislation and said it is an “attack on the judiciary”.
The president returned the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 for reconsideration to the parliament as per the provisions of the Article 75 of the Constitution, stating that the bill prima-facie travels beyond the competence of the parliament and can be assailed as colourable legislation.
President Alvi said that SC Rules 1980 had been “made and in force duly validated and adopted by the Constitution itself” under enabling provisions such as Article 191 of the Constitution which empowers the top court to make rules regulating the practice and procedure of the court.
“These time-tested rules are being followed ever since the year 1980 —any tinkering with the same may tantamount to interference with the internal working of the Court, its autonomy and independence,” the letter stated.
The bill was approved by both houses of the parliament last month and sent to the president for assent amid a deepening political and constitutional crisis in the country over elections in Punjab and KP.
After Alvi’s refusal to assent to the legislation, the government is likely to get through this bill from a joint session of the parliament.
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