By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday the primary objective of the country’s top court’s suo motu jurisdiction is to serve the public interest, rather than benefiting certain individuals.
The Supreme Court has the authority to initiate legal proceedings on matters it deems to be in the public interest through suo motu notice, which is the act of taking cognizance of a matter on its own.
Prime Minister Sharif raised questions regarding the court’s use of suo motu powers during a visit to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, where he spoke with prisoners and inquired about their living conditions.
He questioned the number of times the court had taken suo motu notice on issues concerning prisons and inmates.
“Did you ask jail officials how many prisoners they have because the basic purpose of a suo motu notice is the public interest — not an individuals?
“How many suo motu [notices] were taken regarding issues such as justice with prisoners and their betterment.”
PM Sharif emphasized that suo motu jurisdiction should solely be used for matters concerning public interest, and not for individual purposes, and stressed that there can be no other purpose for it as per the Constitution and the law.
He said were 4,000 prisoners in Lahore Central Jail, 50,000 in Punjab and hundreds of thousands across the country.
“There are thousands of such prisoners who can be immediately released in accordance with the law. How much work have the courts done regarding this? These are the questions which the nation asks of me and all institutions.”
The prime minister’s comments came after the Supreme Court halted the implementation of the Supreme Court (Practice & Procedure) Bill, 2023, which aimed to limit the chief justice’s powers to take suo motu notice and form benches.
The bill became law despite the president’s refusal to assent to it after being passed by parliament.
The bill was introduced amid growing tensions between the government and the apex court over the allocation of finances for elections in Punjab.
The court had ordered the government to allocate funds for the elections, but the National Assembly refused to grant the request. The court has called for consensus between the government and opposition on the issue and plans to resume hearings after the Eid holidays on April 26.
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