Each institution is responsible for the self-accountability, observes CJP Isa.

ISLAMABAD -- Every institution is responsible for conducting self-accountability, remarked Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday as the top court resumed hearing on petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023. The hearing was adjourned till tomorrow (Wednesday) after the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan's (MQM-P) counsel Faisal Siddiqi completed arguments in favour of the law. The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) are due to present arguments at the next hear

ing. Questions have been raised on parliament's competence to regulate the administrative workings of the Supreme Court (SC) as well as transparency in the workings of the judiciary in previous hearings.

The law in question, passed by the parliament in April 2023, regulates discretionary powers of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) by requiring a committee of three senior judges of the apex court, including the CJP, to form benches for constitutional matters of public importance and taking suo motu notice.

A full court led by CJP Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Musarrat Hilali, has taken up nine review petitions against the 2023 Act.

The petitioners view the law as an attempt to clip the powers of the CJP and pave the way for...