18th amendment verdict today

Most petitioners challenged procedure of judges' appointment.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court will announce its verdict on the 18th Amendment on Thursday (today).

Notices have been issued to all petitioners and defendants concerned.  The case was taken up for hearing on May 24, which continued with brief intervals for more than four months. A larger bench had concluded the hearing of the case on September 30 and reserved its judgment.

Around 20 petitions were filed in the SC challenging the amendment. However, most of the petitioners challenged the new procedure of appointment of judges in the superior and lower courts, under the amended Article 175-A of the Constitution.

The first petition was filed by Nadeem Ahmed Advocate through his counsel Akram Sheikh. The second petition was filed by the District Bar Association Rawalpindi through Muhammad Ikram Chaudhry, who is also a candidate in the upcoming Supreme Court Bar elections. The third petition was filed by the Wattan Party through its chairman Barrister Zafar Ullah Khan.  The fourth one was filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association through Hamid Khan and the fifth by the President of Pakistan Muslim League-Zia Ijaz-ul-Haq. The PML-Z chief mainly objected to article 63-A of the Constitution, which empowers a party leader to disqualify a party member from his membership to the parliament, even if he is not an elected representative.

J Salik, representing the minorities through his counsel Zulfiqar Bhutta, also filed a petition and challenged the amendment regarding the rights granted to minorities in the Constitution.

Meanwhile, special security arrangements have been made to ensure decorum and smooth functioning at the Supreme Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2010.