As Supreme Court delivered a historic judgement on Wednesday upholding the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedures) Act 2023, participants on Naya Daur TV’s flagship show ‘Khabar Say Aagay (Beyond the Headlines)’ showered praises on the chief justice for the 'landmark judgement'.
Barrister Awais Babar said that this was the first time a head of an institution in Pakistan had agreed to share his own powers with his colleagues.
Babar however was critical of the part of the judgement under which the Supreme Court had struck down the part of the law that allowed the right to appeal in Article 184(3) cases retrospectively.
“It’s a great beginning but it would have been even better if the law applied retrospectively too. It would give Supreme Court an opportunity to correct the mistakes it had made in the past. By not giving the right to appeal retrospectively, Supreme Court had let a golden opportunity slip”, he added.
Talking about the effect of the clause allowing the right to appeal retrospectively in 184(3) cases being struck down, the barrister argued that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif could file a new petition and request the committee comprising the three most senior judges of the apex court to revisit the Panama case judgement.
Journalist Nadia Naqi was of the opinion that Nawaz Sharif’s departure from London at a time when the Supreme Court was striking down the clause giving him a right to appeal was sending mixed signals politically. However, the new election law, she added, has set the maximum period of disqualification from contesting an election to five years, and this may allow him to take part in the upcoming elections.
Reporter Syed Sabih ul-Hussnain said that no chief justice has talked about parliament’s supremacy like Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa has during the proceedings of this case.
Commenting on Nawaz Sharif’s case, Hussnain opined that there was still an appeal pending in Supreme Court of Pakistan against the Review of Judgement Act. “If the Review of Judgement Act gets restored, the former prime minister might be able to file a review against Panama case judgement”, he said.
Beyond the Headlines is hosted by Raza Rumi, Monday-Thursday 9 PM (Pakistan time) on Naya Daur TV.