ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Mian Muhammad Rauf Atta has been urged to support the demand that a full court, comprising all SC judges, hear and adjudicate the pending challenges against the 26th Amendment.
Five former presidents of the SCBA – Muneer A Malik, Hamid Khan, Ali Ahmad Kurd, Abid Zuberi, Amanullah B Kanrani, and incumbent SCBA Secretary Salman Mansoor – on Monday, wrote a joint letter to the current association’s chief.
Mian Rauf on December 28, 2024, while admonishing All-Pakistan Lawyers Action Committee, through a press release, said; “Their statement (Committee) is filled with contradictions and diverges significantly from constitutional provisions.” He stated; “We firmly assert that this Association strongly supports the 26th Constitutional Amendment.” “The 26th Amendment itself has strengthened the trichotomy of powers, forming the foundation of a robust federation,” he added.
26th Amendment challenged in SC
The former SCBA president said regardless of any contrary view about the unconstitutionality of the 26th Amendment, “we call upon the SCBA [President MianRauf] to stand by our demand that a Full Court, composed of all judges of the Supreme Court, should hear and adjudicate the pending challenges against the 26th Amendment.”
They expressed their great disappointment over the SCBA press statement dated 26-12-2024 and press release dated 28-12-24 issued by the present president. They stated that they firmly stand against the attempts to undermine judicial independence, and assert executive dominance over the judiciary.
They mentioned that the support for the 26th Amendment under the garb of “parliamentary supremacy” is gravely concerning, as the 26th Amendment upsets the delicate balance between the three organs of the State, and goes against the trichotomy of powers. The constitution embodies the will of the people, and it is the will of the people to secure an independent judiciary free from executive dominance. The 26th Amendment makes an independent judiciary an illusory concept.
The SCBA ex-presidents noted that the executive dominates the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). The effect of the 26th Amendment is that the executive has become the “master of the roster”. The judges have been rendered a minority voice in the JCP. The executive has been given the right to choose its own bench. The federation is a party to constitutional cases, and it is entirely incompatible with judicial independence for the government to select its own judges for its own disputes.
To uphold the legitimacy and credibility of the Court, a Full Court, composed of all judges of the Supreme Court, must determine the pending challenges against the 26th Amendment. The constitution is the social contract between the citizens and the State, and such a grave amendment impacts all citizens. This case will determine the future course of our constitutional dispensation, and must be heard by a full court.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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