ISLAMABAD: Amidst strong protest by the opposition, the Senate, Thursday passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2024 an allegedly controversial legislative draft that allows retired judges of high courts and district courts to hear appeals related to general and local government polls, respectively.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the bill on the maiden day of the Senate’s 340th session.
Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani allowed the presentation of the bill, instead of referring it to the relevant standing committee, which took the opposition by surprise.
The opposition strongly opposed the bill and demanded that the legislative draft be referred to the relevant standing committee for a comprehensive review, which Gilani denied.
The law minister was of the view that the bill, which was already passed by the National Assembly, aimed to restore the previous law that allowed the judges of the high courts and lower courts to hear petitions related to general and LG elections.
The bill aims at “lessening the burden” on the sitting judges of the high courts and those of the lower courts, the minister said. This law would help ensure the speedy disposal of electoral petitions, he said.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI’s) Parliamentary Leader in Senate Barrister Ali Zafar said this law “interferes with the independence of judiciary.” He lambasted the bill for allowing the retired judges to act as members of the election tribunals, saying the former judges could be influenced by the quarters concerned for favourable decisions. Zafar said the bill would allow the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to appoint the retired judges at will— to get favourable outcomes in the related cases.
Treasury Senator Advocate Farooq Naek from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), however, supported the bill. He said the retired high court judges heard the appeals related to 2013 general elections. “All those appeals that were heard by the retired judges were timely disposed of—the sitting judges of high courts are already overburdened with work. They hardly have time to hear electoral appeals,” he said.
Opposition Senator Advocate Kamran Murtaza from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) disagreed. “The former judges are not answerable to anyone,” he argued, adding that the sitting judges can be tried by the relevant judicial forums for any foul play. “But there is not such thing— to take on a retired judge,”
he said.
After this debate, the chairman allowed the presentation of the bill, passed by the house with majority vote. The opposition chanted anti-government slogans, tore apart the copies of the house business agenda and staged a walkout, only to rejoin the house proceedings later.
According to the bill’s statement of objects and reasons, in the year 2023, through the Elections (Amendment) Act 2023, an amendment was made in the Section 140 to make only the serving judge of a high court as member of an election tribunal in respect of cases of an election to an assembly or the Senate. “But the fact of the workload of high courts in pending litigation was overlooked, workload in heavy pendency of cases still exists and it is very difficult for the serving judges of the high courts to spare required time for swift adjudication of election petitions.”
As such, continues the statement, it is appropriate to restore the original provision of the said Section 140 so as also to make retired judges of high courts eligible for appointment as member of an election tribunal for hearing of election petitions in respect of election to the National Assembly, the Senate and provincial assemblies.
“Similarly, for consistency, it is desirable to make retired district and sessions judges and retired additional district and sessions judges eligible for appointment as members of the election tribunals for hearing of election petitions in respect of election to a local government,” says the statement of objects and reasons.
Meanwhile, Power Minister Awais Leghari said, the federal government is “seriously working on solarisation of agricultural tube wells of Balochistan.” He was responding to a question in Senate question hour.
Answering a question, law minister said, a lawmaker draws a monthly salary of 170,000 rupees after deduction of taxes, compared to remuneration of a judge of the superior judiciary, which is “not less than one million rupees.”
The house unanimously passed a resolution to express profound grief over the loss of lives of former senator former Hidayatullah and his aides in a bomb blast in Bajaur on Wednesday.
Apart from that, the annual report of the National Economic Council (NEC) for financial year 2020-21 was laid in the house.
Senate was adjourned till today (Friday).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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