Newly sworn-in Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa has created history by forming a full court for hearing petitions against the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 — a law that seeks to streamline the CJ’s power — while also allowing live telecast of the proceedings.
Before commencing the proceedings, CJ Isa sought the opinion of the SC judges on the proposal to broadcast the hearings live. According to sources, most judges approved the idea, but some were unwilling to hold the proceedings under the media’s spotlight.
The full court hearing is significant in many ways. Most importantly, all members of the entire court were appointed as superior court judges after the 2007 lawyers’ movement. They had supported the campaign to restore the judiciary’s independence. The apex court had removed more than 100 judges through its July 31, 2009 judgment.
Interestingly, the last time a full court had convened was to hear Justice Isa’s petition against a presidential reference moved by the PTI, seeking his removal for allegedly not disclosing his family members’ foreign assets in his wealth statement. The bench had set aside the presidential reference with a majority vote.
