Govt tables bill in NA to amend CJP's suo motu powers.

ISLAMABAD -- In a bid to limit the discretionary powers to take suo motu notice by Pakistan's top judge, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar Tuesday tabled the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023.

The development came a day after two Supreme Court judges - Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail - raised questions over the powers of the CJP, saying the apex court 'cannot be dependent on the solitary decision of one man, the Chief Justice'.

'This court cannot be dependent on the solitary decision of one man, the Chief Justice, but must be regulated through a rule-based system approved by all judges of the court under Article 191 of the Constitution," Justice Shah and Justice Mandokhail wrote in a 27-page dissenting note for the apex court's March 1 verdict in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suo motu.

In his speech on the floor of the house during the parliament's joint session, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also sought parliamentary action in this regard, terming the dissenting note "a ray of hope".

"The voices for change stemming from the judiciary itself is certainly a ray of hope for the country," the prime minister - whose party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has accused the judiciary of "bench-fixing" - said.

The law minister, while speaking on the floor of the house, said...