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Constitutional Crisis Escalates in Pakistan as Top Court Sends Notice to PM Sharif

Shehbaz Sharif - Sputnik India, 1920, 13.04.2023
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Pakistan is in the middle of a constitutional crisis, with the judiciary and the government pulling at each other like a tug of war.
The clash between Pakistan's judiciary and executive escalated on Thursday after the Supreme Court issued notices to the federal government, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Arif Alvi, over petitions challenging a legislation to curtail the powers of chief justice.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial said that the court would examine whether the proposed law violated the Constitution, which guarantees the independence of the judiciary.
The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 was passed by a joint session of the parliament earlier this week and forwarded to President Alvi for assent. However, the president returned the Bill, requesting the parliament to reconsider the proposed law as it is "beyond the competence of parliament".
Subsequently, a clutch of petitions challenging its constitutional validity asked the supreme court to declare the Bill null and void.
Should the Bill becomes law, the CJP would no longer have the power to initiate suo motu proceedings against a state/constitutional body.

Row Over Punjab Assembly Polls

The Bill came to light in the wake of the CJP Bandial's intervention in the matter of delay in the polls to Punjab's provincial assembly.
The elections in Punjab were initially scheduled to take place this month but were postponed to October after the Sharif-led government cited a lack of funds to hold elections in April.

In a ruling on 4 April, the Supreme Court declared the decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delay the Punjab polls illegal before ordering the poll body to conduct elections on 14 May.

Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan's ruling coalition issued a joint statement, slamming the formation of an eight-judge Bench to hear the case in the Supreme Court.
In a statement, Sharif and his alliance partners said that the ruling parties consider the move to be an attack on the parliament and its authority, which will be strongly resisted.

"The constitution of the controversial bench in haste and fixing the Bill for hearing, apart from the intent and intention, also clearly expresses the decision to come which is sad and tantamount to murder of justice," the statement said.

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