Supreme Court of Pakistan rejects joint petition challenging constitutional amendments

By News Update On Oct 17, 2024

Pakistan's Supreme Court today rejected a joint petition challenging the proposed constitutional amendments. It is noteworthy that the government's much-discussed constitutional package aims to establish a federal Constitutional Court and fix a three-year tenure for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP).

According to Geo News, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan heard the joint petition today. The top court accepted the request to withdraw this petition and rejected it. The petition against the proposed constitutional amendments was filed by former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association and current member of the Pakistan Bar Council, Abid S. Zubairi, and other council members.

During the hearing, lawyer Hamid Khan requested the bench to withdraw the petition. To this, the CJP wondered whether the petitioners had appointed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Hamid only to withdraw their petition. He said that Abid Zubairi could have withdrawn the petition himself. Six lawyers had filed the petition. They could appear before the court themselves to take it back. The lawyer said that his client wants to withdraw all the petitions.

Abid S Zubairi, along with other members of the Pakistan Bar Council, had filed a petition in the apex court on September 16 under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. The petitioners had requested the Supreme Court to declare that the separation of powers, judicial independence and the right to enforce fundamental rights are sacrosanct under the Constitution and it is the power of Parliament to take away, interfere with or alter it in any way. Beyond power. Furthermore, the petitioners had asked the court to declare the proposed amendments introduced through the Bill as unconstitutional and violative of the basic structure of the Constitution, the principle of separation of powers, judicial independence and the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.