ISLAMABAD : March 30,2023: Amid the opposition protest , Senate passed the bill for reforms in judiciary on Thursday.
The opposition called the bill for judicial reforms as politically motivated and lodged strong protest to it in the upper house.
However, the treasury benches managed to get the bill in question passed with a majority vote.
The National Assembly had passed the bill the day before on Wednesday.
After passing the bill on judicial reforms by both the houses of the parliament , the bill will be sent to the president of Pakistan for his wetting.
Once the bill is signed by the president of Pakistan it will translate into an Act of the law.
With becoming the bill in question effective , the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan for taking suo moto actions under article 184 (3) and constitution of the benches at will ,will come to an end. These powers after the effectiveness of the bill will rest on a committee of three top judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).
Meanwhile , justice Amin Khan had declined to become part of a larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) , Umar Atta Bandial, which is hearing the case of delay in holding general elections in the Punjab and Khyber Pukhtunkhaw (KPK).
Justice Amin Khan quoted the decision of three member bench to which he was a member which on Wednesday decided that all cases of suo moto will not be fixed till the bill of judicial reforms becomes effective.
The SCP, however , overruled the observation of Justice Amin Khan and reconstituted the bench of four judges which will take up the case of the delay in holding general elections in the Punjab and KPK.
SCP issued a note on Thursday wherein it noted that it was the authority of the CJP to constitute the bench in any case and under the same authority CJP has reconstituted the bench of four judges to resume hearing of the case of delay in holding elections in the Punjab and KPK at 10 AM on Friday.
