A three-member bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a summoning order by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) served on the apex court’s registrar, asking him to appear before the PAC in connection with the scrutiny of the SC accounts.
Earlier, the registrar had also snubbed the PAC summons in a statement and had refused to get the accounts scrutinised.
The special bench comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed suspended the summons while taking up a petition moved by Rashid A Rizvi, former president of the Karachi Bar Association.
Munir A Malik, the counsel for the petitioner, contended that the PAC had summoned the registrar regarding the administration of expenditures which negated the constitutional scheme of the country.
He said the PAC had no mandate over the accounts of the apex court under Articles 78 and 81 of the constitution. He said under the trichotomy of powers and independence of the judiciary, which he linked with the fundamental rights of the citizens, the parliamentary body could not summon the registrar.
He said the administrative expenditure, including salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court, were being charged from the Federal Consolidated Fund, which was beyond the purview of PAC under Articles 78 and 81.
He said the PAC jurisdiction was confined to the funds granted by the National Assembly under public accounts. To the bench’s query about the functioning of the PAC, the counsel replied that the PAC was working under Articles 67 and 198.
Malik also referred to Article 68, saying the provision placed a clear bar on discussing the code of the conduct of the judges of the superior judiciary in parliament, which was similarly applicable to the administration expenditure of the judiciary. After hearing the preliminary contentions, the bench also issued notice to the attorney general for Pakistan.
Justice Afzal said the parliamentary watchdog did not have the authority to audit the expenditure of the courts, as according to the constitution, the judiciary was treated as an autonomous institution.
The bench said in its order that they would like to suspend proceedings if any before the PAC over the issue and adjourned the hearing until date in office.The bench also repeated similar notices on identical petitions moved by Rawalpindi Bar Association President Shaikh Ahsan and Sindh Bar Association. Until 2005, the registrar used to appear before the PAC – a practice discontinued since. The committee has been urging the Supreme Court to review its decision since 2008. The Supreme Court is of the view that since its allocations are made out of the Federal Consolidated Fund, they cannot be discussed by the PAC. Other departments like the Presidency, Senate, National Assembly, Election Commission of Pakistan and Auditor General of Pakistan will also claim exemptions. These departments also receive their budget allocation from the Federal Consolidated Fund.
