NA summons in-camera session on Friday as SC issues notices to top officials
Pakistan
Meeting will take place on Friday at 2.30pm
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – After the Supreme Court (SC) issued notices to top officials and parties in connection with a case against SC (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Thursday summoned an in-camera session of the assembly on April 14.
Mr Ashraf converted the already summoned session to an in-camera meeting, called at 2.30pm, on Friday, NA staff told.
Earlier, an eight-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Mazahir Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shahid Waheed, had issued notices to political parties, the federal government, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan, the Pakistan Bar Council, the Supreme Court Bar Association and other respondents in the case.
The defendant had argued to dispose of the plea against the bill citing the political administration’s interference with the independence of the judiciary, deepening political crisis, and the top court’s jurisdiction to invalidate a bill passed by the parliament.
On the other hand, leaders of the ruling coalition had maintained that no one could be given the right to stop the parliament from enacting laws. The parties also rejected the setting up of an eight-member SC bench to hear the pleas against the bill saying it was an attempt to take away the parliament's authority and to interfere with its constitutional scope.
