After NA, Senate passes bills to increase number of SC judges, extend tenure of services chiefs

ISLAMABAD :The Senate also passed the bills to increase the number of Supreme Court judges and extend the tenure of services chiefs.

The Senate session started with Presiding Officer Irfan Siddiqui in the chair on Monday.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the bills in the upper house.

Earlier in the day, the bills were adopted by the National Assembly shortly after they were presented amid the outcry of the opposition.

The National Assembly session began over two hours late under the chairmanship of Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented a motion to suspend the question hour, which was approved. The opposition strongly opposed the motion, chanting “no, no” in the assembly.

During the session, the Law Minister introduced the Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance and presented a bill to increase the number of Supreme Court judges, stating that the judge count is being raised to 34.

He explained that additional judges are required for the constitutional court and to reduce the backlog of pending cases.

Meanwhile, the House also made amendments in the ‘Islamabad High Court Act’ to increase the number of judges.

The number of IHC judges would be increased from 9 to 12 after the new legislation.

Later, the National Assembly also passed the bills to extend the tenure of all the services chiefs. The amendments were made in the Pakistan Army Act 1952, Air Force Act and Pakistan Navy Act.

All the bills related to the tenure of services chiefs were moved by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.

The session was later adjourned till tomorrow (Tuesday).