ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly has approved two significant bills aimed at increasing the number of judges in the country’s judiciary, specifically the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024 and the Islamabad High Court Amendment Bill 2024.
The session, chaired by NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, commenced with Law Minister Azam Tarar presenting the bills that seek to address the growing backlog of cases in the courts. These bills were previously approved by the federal cabinet and are now set to enhance judicial capacity.
The Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Ordinance proposes to raise the number of Supreme Court judges from the current count to 34, while the Islamabad High Court Amendment Bill seeks to increase the number of judges in the high court from nine to twelve.
During the session, Law Minister Tarar emphasized the urgent need for this expansion, citing the thousands of pending cases in the Supreme Court as a pressing concern. He moved to suspend the question hour to allow for a focused discussion on the bills, which were subsequently passed by a majority vote despite protests and slogans from opposition members.
In addition to these judicial bills, the National Assembly also approved amendments to the Pakistan Army Act 2024, Pakistan Air Force Act 2024, and Pakistan Navy Act 2024. Notably, the amendment to the Pakistan Army Act aims to establish a fixed tenure of five years for all service chiefs, promoting uniformity in leadership terms across the military branches.
