ISLAMABAD: The joint sitting of the parliament will meet for an expected stormy session today (Monday) to pass legislation into an Act aimed at curtailing the suo motu powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

The schedule of the joint sitting of the two houses – Senate and National Assembly – which was originally due to meet at 2:00 PM has now been changed a little, as the session will meet at 4:00 PM today (Monday).

Although the order of the day of the joint sitting has yet not been issued, parliamentary sources said that passage of The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 will also be part of the agenda among other items.

Govt decides to table SC bill in joint session

Both the Senate and the National Assembly had earlier passed the bill which was sent to President Dr Arif Alvi to finally sign the legislation into an Act. However, the President on Saturday returned the bill unsigned to the parliament for reconsideration “as per the provisions of Article 75 of the Constitution”, saying: “the bill prima facie travels beyond the competence of parliament and can be assailed as a colourable legislation”.

The opposition – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – has termed the bill as an effort by the ruling coalition to control the top judiciary and a “direct attack” on the independence of judiciary.

To chalk out its strategy with regard to the joint session, the PTI has called its parliamentary party meeting at the Parliament House today (Monday) at 3:00 PM.

The meeting will be presided over by opposition leader in Senate Shehzad Waseem, which will be attended by the PTI lawmakers to chalk out a strategy for lodging a strong protest within the house against the passage of the bill.

Both the Senate and the National Assembly are also scheduled to meet separately in the morning today for their pre-scheduled sessions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023