The basic objective of the right to self-cognizance is public interest, not personal happiness: Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government is trying to legalize the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which aims to curtail the suo motu power of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and A panel of judges has to be constituted for hearing the cases.

 

Islamabad:Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the fundamental objective of the right to self-cognizance is to use it for public interest and not for any particular person. Sharif's statement came in the midst of ongoing tussle between the ruling coalition and the judiciary. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government is trying to legalize the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which aims to curtail the suo motu power of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and A panel of judges has to be constituted for hearing the cases. There is a tussle between the legislature and the judiciary regarding this step of the government.

Initially, the bill was passed by both the Houses of the Parliament and was sent to President Arif Alvi for his signature to give it a legal shape. But President Alvi, who belongs to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, hit back, saying the proposed law was "far beyond the purview of Parliament". In the joint sitting of both the Houses, the bill was passed again amid uproar by the members of Khan's party. The National Assembly of Pakistan notified this law on Friday.

Talking to the media after visiting Lahore's Kotalakhpat Jail and inquired about the condition of the prisoners there, Prime Minister Sharif asked whether the issues related to the jails and the prisoners lodged in them should be taken up by the courts, The Dawn reported. How many times has it taken suo motu cognizance? According to the newspaper, Sharif said that the Supreme Court has the right to take suo moto cognizance of issues of public interest and hear them. The Prime Minister said, “Did you ask the jail authorities how many prisoners they have, because the basic purpose of the suo motu notice is public interest… not personal happiness. How much suo motu cognizance has been taken on issues related to justice and welfare of prisoners.

He said that there are 4,000 prisoners in Lahore Jail, 50,000 in Punjab Jail and lakhs of prisoners in other jails of the country. Sharif said, “There are thousands of prisoners who can be legally released immediately. How much work has been done by the courts in this direction. The people of the country ask me and the institutions this question.

Defense Ministers Of Russia And China Likely To Attend SCO Meeting In India 

There is no confirmation yet on the personal participation of Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif in the SCO Defense Ministerial meeting

New Delhi : Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu are expected to attend an important meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in India . Sources told on Saturday that this meeting will be held next week under the chairmanship of SCO of India.

He said that there is no confirmation yet on the personal participation of Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif in the SCO Defense Ministerial meeting to be held on April 27 and 28. According to sources, Asif is expected to attend the meeting through video conference.

He told that except Pakistan, Defense Ministers of China, Russia and other SCO member countries have confirmed their personal presence in the meeting.

However, no official announcement has been made regarding the participation of the SCO member countries in the Defense Ministerial meeting.

The SCO Defense Ministerial meeting in New Delhi will be followed by the Foreign Ministerial meeting of the grouping in Goa on May 4 and 5 . Foreign ministers of all SCO member countries including Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari are going to attend the meeting. Pakistan has already announced that Bilawal will travel to India to attend the meeting.

SCO member countries include India, Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.