Islamabad, Apr 22 (PTI) The basic purpose of the suo motu jurisdiction is to be exercised in the public interest instead of for an individual, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday, amidst a raging row between the ruling coalition and the judiciary.

Relations between the judiciary and the ruling coalition have soured ever since the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government has been pushing for the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 to dilute the powers of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to take suo motu action and form a panel of judges for hearing of cases.

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It was initially passed by both houses of parliament and sent to President Arif Alvi for his assent.

However, the president, who is a member of ousted prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, sent it back, saying that the proposed law travelled “beyond the competence of parliament”.

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On April 10, the bill was passed for the second time by a joint sitting of parliament with certain amendments, amid a noisy protest by lawmakers from Khan's PTI.

On Friday, the National Assembly of Pakistan notified the law.

Talking to the media outside Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail, after visiting the facility and enquiring about the conditions of prisoners while talking with them, Sharif questioned how many times the court took suo motu notice of the issues pertaining to prisons and their inmates, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The Supreme Court is empowered to take suo motu notice - cognisance of a matter on its own -which it deems is in the public interest and commences proceedings on it, Sharif was quoted as saying.

“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 individual's. How many suo motu [notices] were taken regarding issues such as justice with prisoners and their betterment," the premier said.

The premier said there 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,” he said.

He reiterated that the suo motu jurisdiction was solely meant for issues pertaining to the public interest, adding that “there can be no other purpose made out for the suo motu notice — neither does the Constitution allow it nor the law”.

Another report in Geo News said that Sharif urged the superior judiciary to take notice of the situation to address the miseries of the suffering prisoners.

The prime minister stressed that by putting aside personal interests and taking collective actions, the country can overcome the pervading challenges, the report said.

The new law passed by Parliament also states that every cause, matter, or appeal before the apex court would be heard and disposed of by a bench, constituted by a committee made up of the chief justice and the two senior-most judges.

Previously the chief justice enjoyed sole power to take suo motu and set up benches.

There was no concept of appeal in an action taken under the suo motu notice.

However, the new law further increased the gulf between the judiciary and Parliament – the latter getting the full support of the government.

Earlier, the law was passed twice by parliament because the president returned it after it was sent back by the president without his signatures, which are required for any bill to become an act. However, if the same bill is passed without any changes, the president cannot only delay it for ten days and it becomes a law even without his endorsement.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)