PPP Welcomes move to regulate suo motu powers and deciding cases of misconduct

Islamabad: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has welcomed the move to regulate exercise of suo motu powers of the Supreme Court and limitations in deciding cases of misconduct against judges as “much needed steps in judicial reforms in the country”.

The bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges on Tuesday endorsed amendments proposed by Senator Farooq Naek to regulate powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution that allows the apex Court to take up human rights cases on its own initiative.

According to the amendments a reference on account of misconduct against a judge of the superior judiciary will also be decided by the Supreme Judicial Council within 90 days.

“The manner of taking suo moto notices, the finality of far reaching verdicts without right of appeal and concentration of powers in the hands one individual have long been agitated by the bar and civil society and call for urgent reforms” said secretary general of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians Farhatullah Babar in a statement today.

“That the proposed reforms have bipartisan political support inside the Parliament as well as of the bar and civil society is most welcome in this atmosphere of political polarization”.

He said that the verdict last week of the Supreme Court declaring Hon Chief Justice as the sole authority to invoke suo motu powers, instead of reforming and streamlining the system, had further concentrated powers in the hands of one individual.

According to the amendment at least three judges would exercise the suo motu powers whose order may be appealed within 30 days to be decided by a 5 member bench within 60 days during which period the order shall not be implemented.

Farhatullah Babar said that of all the State institutions the Supreme Court alone had the powers to decide on the jurisdiction and powers of other institutions.

“This is an awesome power that must be exercised with great caution, humility and with some oversight and not in a manner that appeared arbitrary or whimsical”.

Without limitation on the exercise of this awesome power a Court may end up expanding its own powers at the expense of other democratic institutions which will be detrimental to the federal parliamentary structure, he said.

Farhatulah Babar recalled that a reference had been filed against CJ Saqib Nisar by Women Action Forum and over one hundred members of civil society while he was in office but was not taken up during his tenure.

After Saqib Nisar retired the reference was returned without any action. It raised questions about how long a reference can be left unprocessed and uninvestigated.

The limitation to decide cases of misconduct against judges within 90 days therefore is most welcome, he said