- Ex-parliamentarians search nullification of Act’s sections 7, 14, 17, 21.
- Constitutional Benches needs to be declared “void”, says petition.
- SC requested to strike down apply act, regulation to hike variety of judges.
ISLAMABAD: The twenty sixth Modification has been challenged by former parliamentarians and an ex-president of the Sindh Excessive Courtroom Bar Affiliation (SHCBA) in two separate petitions, looking for nullification of the judiciary-centric constitutional tweaks.
The coalition authorities had handed the contentious constitutional bundle in each homes of parliament on evening between October 20-21 after month-long political deliberations between treasury and opposition lawmakers.
The newest petitions raised the entire variety of challenges to eight towards the twenty sixth Modification containing a set of legal guidelines associated to the nation’s judiciary, together with fixing three-year time period of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) in addition to the formation of constitutional benches.
In one of many petitions filed within the apex court docket on Friday, the petitioners embrace Balochistan Nationwide Occasion—Mengal (BNP-M) President Akhtar Mengal, former Nationwide Meeting speaker Fahmida Mirza, Nationwide Democratic Motion (NDM) Chairman and ex-lawmaker Mohsin Dawar, and former Pakistan Peoples Occasion (PPP) senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.
The petition — making federation, Judicial Fee of Pakistan, Particular Parliamentary Committee, Senate chairman, and Election Fee of Pakistan as events within the case — sought the highest court docket’s order to declare the judicial bundle null and void.
Here is copy of petition filed by ex-lawmakers:
It additionally questioned the best way of passing the twenty sixth Modification from parliament, terming it violative to the Structure and regulation, and sought an intensive probe into the “coercive” voting of the parliamentarians.
The previous parliamentarians, of their joint petition, prayed the highest court docket to strike down sections 7, 14, 17, and 21 of the twenty sixth Constitutional Modification Act, 2024, being violative of the independence of the judiciary in addition to nullifying all “all acts, selections, notifications, proceedings or superstructure by any particular person, authority or physique based mostly upon the identical”.
Additionally they sought to strike down the “so-called” Judicial Fee and the “Constitutional Benches” in addition to voiding all their proceedings and acts.
Within the second petition filed by former SHCBA president Salauddin Ahmed in the present day, the highest court docket was additionally prayed to strike down the Supreme Courtroom (Apply and Process) (Modification) Act, 2024, and the Supreme Courtroom (Variety of Judges) (Modification) Act, 2024.
Given beneath is copy of petition filed by the ex-SHCBA president:
Talking to journalists exterior the Supreme Courtroom, former PPP senator Khokhar alleged that the BNP-M members of parliament have been “harassed” and booked in numerous instances. He mentioned that the constitutional bundle was tantamount to the weakening the state.
NDM Chief Dawar additionally slammed the incumbent authorities for “mocking the general public opinion within the parliament” by way of passing the constitutional amendments in a questionable method.
Throwing shade at Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration, Dawar mentioned that the federal government shied away from holding debates and following parliamentary procedures on the judiciary-centric laws, whereas, there was no illustration of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province within the Senate.
The ruling coalition had succeeded in pushing the extremely contentious judicial reforms by means of the parliament by way of a two-thirds majority with 225 and 65 votes within the decrease and higher home, respectively final month.
Throughout the course of, the main opposition get together — the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — kept away from voting on the constitutional bundle which was handed on the evening between October 20-21.
Following the approval of the mentioned laws by the parliament, President Asif Ali Zardari had signed the “twenty sixth Modification Invoice” into regulation on the recommendation of PM Shehbaz on the identical day.