The National Assembly and Senate approved on Monday bills to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 17 to 34 and amend the SC (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance amid the opposition’s protest.
The passage of the bill also increased the Islamabad High Court judges strength from eight to 12.
Live footage showed Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif reading out bills in the august house. They and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq were seen wearing headphones to avoid the noise and slogans from the opposition benches.
The lower house of Parliament, which was scheduled to start at 4pm, started at 6:50pm, after more than two hours delay.
Opposition members gathered in front of the speaker’s dais in protest against the legislation. They also tore apart the copy of bills in front of Sadiq.
Sergeant at arms tried to stop some parliamentarians after they pushed each other.
The session began with the first motion being to suspend regular proceedings.
Following this, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance and the bill to increase the number of judges in the National Assembly.
When he started reading out the bill, the opposition chanted slogans, reflecting their discontent with the proceedings.
NA Speaker Sadiq instructed opposition members to take their seats, but the opposition continued to shout slogans like ‘Thief! Thief!’ in the chamber.
Tarar stated that the opposition had “only learned one lesson and hadn’t grasped the second.” He urged them to listen to his comments first if they wished to engage in discussion.
The law minister highlighted that thousands of cases are pending in the courts and that the number of judges, excluding the CJP,—16—is “insufficient” to handle the workload. He stressed the need for increasing the number of judges to 34 to address the backlog “effectively.”
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As the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Amendment Bill 2024 was being approved clause by clause, opposition members gathered in front of the speaker’s dais. They created a significant uproar and tore copies of the bill in protest.
Meanwhile, the government also rushed through in the National Assembly to extend the tenure of the three service chiefs from three years to five years, amid the opposition’s protest that prompted seargent at arms in action to avoid any scuffle.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif moved the bill in the august house.
