K-P still rejects constitutional courts

Law minister says PTI does not recognise 26th Amendment

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has decided not to present a resolution in the assembly for the establishment of constitutional courts.

Provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam stated that his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had opposed and does not recognise the 26th Constitutional Amendment and, therefore, it also does not accept the decision to establish constitutional courts, adding that the K-P cabinet had also approved the decision.

He further stated that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was incomplete as decisions regarding reserved seats and the Senate elections had not been made. "In such a situation, how can a resolution be tabled in the assembly?" he asked.

Last month, he had expressed concerns that the constitutional amendments could undermine the supremacy of the Supreme Court and that a parallel judiciary was being created to please a specific individual.

The minister was speaking in a session of the provincial assembly. He questioned why the amendments were being introduced right before the Chief Justice's October 25 retirement and called it a conspiracy.

In contrast, matters are very different in Sindh where the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has succeeded in nominating judges of its own choice to the constitutional benches of the Sindh High Court (SHC).

 

Meanwhile, the third meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, was held on Monday to consider the nominations of judges for the constitutional benches.

 

The JCP, by a majority of eleven to four, has nominated SHC Judge KK Agha as the head of the constitutional benches for the next two months. The commission, again by a majority, has also approved the nominations of Justices Salim Jessar, Omar Sial, Yousaf Ali Sayeed, Abdul Mobeen Lakho, Zulfiqar Ali Sangi, Sana Akram Minhas, Khadim Hussain Soomro and Arbab Ali Hakro for the constitutional benches.

 

Interestingly, eight senior SHC judges have been ignored in the nominations for the constitutional benches. Justice KK Agha ranks ninth on the SHC judges' seniority list.

 

It is to be noted that the constitutional benches are to be formed in the SHC only. The other three provinces have not passed resolutions endorsing them.

Likewise, parliament has not passed a resolution to form constitutional benches at the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

 

It has been learned that CJP Afridi, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and SHC Chief Justice Shafi Siddiqui dissented from the majority opinion during the meeting.