In a major development, the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday nullified Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023, terming it unconstitutional.
According to the details, a three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar announced the decision reserved on June 19 after six hearings — from June 7 to June 19 — on multiple petitions challenging the law, enacted in late May.
The Supreme Court Review Act is against the Constitution, CJP Banidal said, adding that the verdict was passed unanimously and a detailed order will be issued later. The court further said that Parliament did not have the power to enact such legislation.
“…the argument
that the power of this Court under Article 187 can be resorted to in
order to save and protect the 2023 Act is found to be misconceived
and is accordingly repelled.”Supreme Court dot on the point and strikes down the Act of 23 as being repugnant to the Const.
— Muhammad Ahmad Pansota (@Pansota1) August 11, 2023
The Supreme Court Review of Judgments and Orders Bill 2023, which was passed by the National Assembly and Senate earlier this year, aims at facilitating and strengthening the Supreme Court in the exercise of its powers to review its judgments and orders.
It was speculated that the review order was spearheaded by President Dr Arif Alvi – who is from PTI – in an attempt to save PTI Chairman Imran Khan from disqualification. Interestingly, former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and former PTI stalwart Jahangir Khan Tareen also got the right to file an appeal against their respective disqualifications.
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However, with the latest development, the SC judgment has shattered the hopes of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Tareen, who were seeking to challenge their lifetime disqualifications. Both Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Tareen were disqualified under Article 62 of the Constitution.
سپریم کورٹ نے رویو اینڈ ججمنٹ ایکٹ کو ختم کرکے نواز شریف کا سپریم کورٹ میں اپیل کے ذریعے نااہلی ختم کرنے کا راستہ روک دیا ۔ اب اس کے لئیے آئینی ترمیم چاہئے اور اس کے لئیے دو تہائی اکثریت چاہیے۔ نہ نو من تیل ہوگا نہ رادھا ناچے گی
— Orya Maqbool Jan (@OryaMaqboolJan) August 11, 2023
The SC judgments’ review bill
Article 188 of the Constitution empowers the Supreme Court, subject to the provision of any Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and any rules made by the Supreme Court, to review any judgment pronounced or any order made by it.
The law provides the right to file a review petition to an aggrieved person against whom an order has been made under clause (3) of the Article 184 of the Constitution, prior to this legislation. It says that the petition shall be filed by the person within sixty days of the commencement of this legislation.
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It proposes that a review petition shall be heard by a bench larger than the bench which passed the original judgment in order. It suggests that the review petitioner shall have the right to appoint any advocate of the supreme court of his choice for the review petition.