ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its judgement on petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Act 2023.
The Act widened the scope of review in cases decided under Article 184(3) of the Constitution which states that “without prejudice to the provisions of Article 199, the Supreme Court shall if it considers that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter 1 of Part II is involved, have the power to make an order of the nature mentioned in the said Article”.
A three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the matter.
The chief justice maintained that the judges would consult with each other and give a decision soon.
During the hearing today, the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Dr Mansoor Awan came to the rostrum and said he would give arguments regarding the legislative authority of the Parliament, adding that several judgements of the SC pertained to the legislative power of the Parliament.
He continued that Article 184(3) reserved a separate scope for revision in cases and the perception of exploitation of some people from the right of revision appeal was incorrect.
CJP Bandial questioned if the AGP was saying that the Constitution was exploiting people before the right of appeal. He further asked how the entire Constitution could be ignored for a constitutional issue.
Awan said that before Article 184(3) there was no way of review, and no one was abused by government legislation.
The chief justice said that the government can legislate but it did not seem right to give the right of appeal in review. He continued that in Article 184(3) cases, very thoughtful decisions should be taken to grant the right of appeal.
According to the CJP, in India, there was no right of direct revisional appeal in Article 184(3) cases.
Last week, Justice Bandial said that law related to the scope of review should be framed carefully with the advice of the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) as he has experience in litigations.
The CJP wondered whether a review could be merged with an appeal as he expressed reservations about the newly introduced Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023.
“Some grounds should be added for reviewing the judgments given under Article 184(3) of the Constitution,” the chief justice said, “otherwise, that would mean rehearing the case.”
Nonetheless, the CJP said that the court would welcome the decision to provide a remedy in judgments decided under the original jurisdiction provisioned by Article 184(3) of the Constitution.
In May, a three-member bench headed by CJP Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar was hearing the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) review petition against its April order with regard to elections in Punjab when the AGP revealed that a new law enlarging the scope of review petitions had been enacted.
Subsequently, the apex court decided to hear the petitions filed against the review law together with the poll authority’s review plea.
