The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared the Parliament-approved Review of Judgments and Orders Act unconstitutional.
The three-member bench was headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Omar Ata Bandial, which also includes Justice Ejaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar.
The detailed judgment, spanning 87 pages, includes an additional note by Justice Manzoor Akhtar, which spans 33 pages. The three-member bench of the Supreme Court has issued a unanimous decision.
The decision would put a deep impact on the politics of the country as the previous PDM led government presented the bill in the parliament with the aim to terminate the disqualification of PML(N) Supremo, Mian Muhamad Nawaz Sharif and the leader of the newly formed Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, Jahangir Khan Tareen.
If the decision of Supreme Court will be implemented, then either the repatriation of Nawaz Sharif could be postponed, which would add problems for the PML(N) as the party is already in hot waters as the elections are very near but people are furious due to the excessive price hike and ill policies of the former government led by Shahbaz Sharif.
According to the Supreme Court’s order, “The Review of Judgments and Orders Act is in conflict with the constitution; therefore, it has been declared null and void.”
The verdict reads that the act goes beyond the powers of legislation granted to the parliament. Parliament cannot legislate on matters falling within the domain of the Supreme Court. The court said that if the right to appeal is granted on every decision , under this law, it will lead to a flood of appeals.”
According to the judgment, “The court is very cautious about declaring a law unconstitutional. The Supreme Court carefully reviewed the Act in light of the Constitution.”
The verdict states, “There is no ambiguity in the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court’s decisions on review. Article 188 and the restrictions imposed by the Court’s judgments on it apply to everyone.”
According to the Act, the bench hearing the appeal must have a greater number of judges than the bench that heard the central case. The Review and Judgment Act also allows the parties to hire a new lawyer for the appeal.
Under the Review and Judgment Act, larger benches will hear appeals regarding public interest aspects. Various lawyers, including those from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, had challenged this Act individually.
In the case of the Punjab province elections, the government had raised objections in the bench by presenting the Review and Judgment Act.
There were speculations about the intentions behind this amendment, suggesting that it was aimed at ending the convictions of Nawaz Sharif and Jehangir Tareen.
However, the legal experts told the media that this decision will not affect Nawaz Sharif’s convictions, as his disqualification has already been completed through another amendment with a term of five years, and the Supreme Court did not reject this amendment.
Now the National Assembly has been dissolved and the parliament would complete after the next general elections. By that time the Senate alo cannot take the review of the Supreme Court’s decision.