Judicial reforms shape SC's first constitutional bench

The Judicial Commission on Tuesday established a seven-member constitutional bench at the Supreme Court with Justice Aminuddin Khan as its head, as required by the 26th Constitutional Amendment passed by parliament last month.

The commission, which has been revamped after the 26th amendment, held its maiden meeting with Chief Justice Yahya Afridi in the chair. The bench was constituted with a split decision of 7-5, while the Practice and Procedure Committee would decide on the formation of its benches and cause list.

The seven judges on the constitutional bench are Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Ayesha Malik from Punjab; Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan from Balochistan; Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi from Sindh and Justice Musarrat Hilali from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Parliament passed the 26th Constitutional Amendment on October 21, envisaging sweeping judicial reforms. The amendment changed the procedure for the appointment of the chief justice and revamped the judicial commission for the appointment of Supreme Court and high court judges.

The amendment was used for the first time, when Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa retired and a parliamentary committee elected Justice Afridi as the chief justice. The amendment also stipulated establishment of constitutional benches at the Supreme Court and the high courts.

Before the new amendment, the Judicial Commission was headed by the chief justice and comprised senior Supreme Court and high court chief justices, law minister and the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) and representatives of the lawyer bodies.

However, after the enactment of the 26th Amendment, five parliamentarians were included in the commission. Last week, the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman forwarded the nominations to the JC's secretary.

Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani had nominated Farooq H Naek of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Shibli Faraz of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), while National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq named Omar Ayub of the PTI, Sheikh Aftab of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and woman lawmaker Roshan Brocha.

Besides the lawmakers, the meeting of the commission was attended by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representative Akhtar Hussain.

The main agenda of the meeting was the establishment of the constitutional bench, according to sources. The five members had proposed that before the constitutional bench, a full court should be convened.

A commission member, unaffiliated with either the government or opposition, proposed nominating judges who were neither impacted nor benefited by the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

Then it was suggested that Justice Aminuddin Khan should be made the head of the constitutional bench. His nomination was approved with 7-5 majority. Also with the same majority, all the seven judges of the bench were nominated.

According to the sources, the five members who did not vote for the constitutional bench judges, were those who had demanded the full court. They were Chief Justice Afridi, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, and PTI parliamentarians Umar Ayub and Shibli Faraz.

The sources said that PTI members objected to convening the Judicial Commission without appointing the head of the constitutional bench. However, PPP Senator Naek argued that the Constitution does not prohibit a meeting in the absence of the bench head.

The sources added that the next Judicial Commission meeting is scheduled in two weeks, during which judges will be nominated for the constitutional bench at the Sindh High Court, following a resolution passed by the provincial assembly.