ISLAMABAD: An amendment bill to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 20, other than the chief justice tabled in the Senate on Sunday.
Independent senator from Balochistan, Mohammad Abdul Qadir presented the bill titled “Supreme Court (Number of Judges) (Amendment) Act”, 2024, in the upper house of the parliament.
He said the increase in the number of apex court judges from 17 to 21 would be held to dispose of more than 53,000 cases pending in the court.
According to the bill, the number of judges of the top court of the country other than the chief justice shall be 20.
It further stated: “The Supreme Court has four jurisdictions original, appellate, advisory, and review being diverse and demanding, contributing to the continuous accumulation of cases.”
“With economic growth and social changes, the complexity and variety of cases have increased,” it pointed out.
It stressed: “This backlog, combined with the complexities of integrating the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, necessitates more judicial resources.”
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Speaking on the floor, Senator Abdul Qadir called for appointing at least 16 judges to the apex court.
He added not only constitutional matters, but several cases related to financial matters worth billions were also pending in the top court as it does not have time to hear these cases.
However, the opposition senators opposed the new amendment. Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar also supported the legislation and suggested forwarding the new bill to the relevant committee.
Tarar, while addressing the Senate session, endorsed the points raised by Senator Qadir, saying several cases related to capital punishments still awaiting judgments since 2015.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Syed Ali Zafar said that the law was tabled suddenly in the upper house to increase the number of jurists. He said the amendments were an attempt to impose a judicial martial law by bringing seven new judges.
Later, Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani referred the bill to the relevant body of the upper house.
