A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday clubbed together pleas against the recently-passed Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023 with the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition asking the top court to revisit its April 4 order of holding polls to the Punjab Assembly on May 14.
The decision was taken as the bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — took up the ECP’s review petition.
At the previous hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan had surprised judges by disclosing that new legislation, which expanded the court’s jurisdiction by giving a right to appeal under Article 184(3), had come into force.
According to the Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023, the scope of the review will be similar to Article 185, which confers appellate jurisdiction to the top court.
Upon the AGP’s revelation, the SC adjourned proceedings on the ECP’s petition, saying the new law would be discussed in court.
During today’s hearing, CJP Bandial remarked that some pleas against the new law had been filed with the top court and decided to hear them alongside the ECP’s review petition.
He also issued notices to the president of the federal government, AGP Awan, through the principal secretary, Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs and Secretariat Senate.
