Prime minister made powerful in real terms: CJ

CJ says the 18th amendment has brought major changes in the constitution and has strengthened the role of the PM.

ISLAMABAD:

The prime minister has been deprived of the constitutional right of consultation on judges’ appointment otherwise he has a role in all clauses of the 18th amendment, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed on Tuesday.

Through this amendment, all powers of the president have been transferred to the prime minister because of which he has become a powerful chief executive of the country in real terms, Justice Chaudhry remarked during the hearing of the 18th amendment case.

On behalf of civil society, Salman Raja resumed his arguments before the 17-member larger bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and pleaded that article 175-A was inserted in the constitution through the 18th amendment which is not at all against the independence of judiciary.

The chief justice asked Salman Raja to avoid referring to the seventh amendment in his arguments. “Democratic and parliamentary form of system is established in the country through the 18th amendment. All the powers have been transferred to the prime minister and he has become powerful in real terms,” he observed.

Justice Ramday observed that the purpose of separating the judiciary from the executive in Article 7 of the Constitution has been clearly defined in Article 8 of the Constitution: the judiciary will keep an eye on the decisions of the executive.

He said that before the 18th amendment, the role of the executive in judges’ appointment was minimal, which has now been increased. Independence of judiciary means that the judiciary and the executive are two separate entities, Justice Jawad S. Khawaja remarked.

The counsel argued that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to review the acts of parliament, adding the judiciary does not legislate, rather it ensures whether it is right or wrong.

The president and prime minister have been disengaged from the process of appointment of judges as all the powers have been given to the parliamentary committee which can even veto the appointment of any judge, Justice Tassaduq Jillani observed, adding that in no country the appointment of judges is vetoed. Justice Jawad remarked that Article 189 of the Constitution clarifies that the judgment of the Supreme Court keeps the value of law, adding “Don’t give us the references of constitutions of different countries rather focus on our own.” The chief justice interposed, “We should keep our ground realities in mind.”

Justice Ramday remarked that according to J Salik, there is no representative of the Christian community in parliament at present. The present parliament did not make any legislation about minorities.

The procedure to elect minorities’ representatives to parliament is in conflict with Article 226 of the Constitution, the chief justice observed.

After Salman Raja concluded his arguments, the CJ asked Attorney General Maulvi Anwar-ul-Haq about head of the constitutional reforms committee Raza Rabbani to present his arguments in defence of the amendment. The AG informed the bench that Raza Rabbani is available to argue on Wednesday (today) and would explain the constitutional points before the bench.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2010.