SC to review judicial package plea on 17th

Next week, the Supreme Court is going to take up a constitutional petition filed against a proposed constitutional amendment package—dubbed the 26 Constitutional Amendment—along with the objections raised to it by its Registrar Office.

A three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan is scheduled to address the plea on October 17, just a week before the retirement of CJ Isa who is set to hang up his robes on October 25.

In his petition, Abid Zuberi requested the court to declare the proposed amendments ultra vires the basic scheme of the Constitution, principle of separation of powers, independence of judiciary and fundamental rights enshrined under the Constitution.

On September 18, the Registrar's Office had returned the petition in original form along with paper books after declaring it not entertainable. It said the petition had been filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution to challenge a document which has not yet attained the status of a law and it is stated to be a 'proposed law', not yet introduced in the parliament.

"It is the members of the National Assembly and the Senate who may pass a bill, if and when presented. However, they are not arrayed as parties. The Federation, the Provinces, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and the President who are listed as respondents are not members of parliament."

It said under the Constitution the power to make laws vests in the legislature and the same cannot be curtailed before a law is made, adding that hypothetical questions were posed in the petition.

"The petitioners have mentioned that they are advocates and members of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) whereas the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act stipulates that lawyers should not become parties.

"If the petitioners have a grievance and want to be portrayed as members of the PBC, they should first approach their respective bodies, ie, the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Bar Council for authorizing them to represent these bodies.

"The interim order in the case of Raja Amer Khan v The Federation of Pakistan passed in CP 6 of 2023 cannot be considered by this office as a binding decision under Article 189 of the Constitution," it added.

According to sources, a chamber appeal was filed against the objections raised by the Registrar's Office. Now the petition has been scheduled for a hearing in an open court along with the objections.

The Balochistan Bar Council has also challenged the 26th proposed constitutional amendment in the Supreme Court. Additionally, petitions against the proposed constitutional amendment have also been submitted in various high courts.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved its decision on the admissibility of a petition filed by former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, seeking an order for the federal government to make the proposed constitutional amendment package public and seek people's feedback on it before its passage.

The proposed 26th Constitutional Amendment includes some major changes in the country's legal system including raising the retirement age of SC judges as well as establishment of an overarching constitutional court.