27th Amendment: Chief Justice urged to convene a ‘judicial conference’ for ‘open dialogue’

ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Yahya Afridi, to convene a judicial conference for having an open institutional dialogue with all judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts to consider threats to the independence of the judiciary.

In his seven-page letter, dated October 8, 2025, which may be inadvertent, because the contents of the letter relate to the present development, the apex court judge stated that the judiciary ought to stand as a bulwark against political manipulation rather than serve as its instrument.

A day ago, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and the former judge of the Supreme Court, retired Justice Mushir Alam, and the senior lawyers also sent letters to the Chief Justice of Pakistan requesting him to hold a Full Court meeting to discuss the ins and outs of the proposed 27th Amendment, particularly the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court.

Former judges, senior lawyers advocate full court session

In his letter, Justice Minallah recounted the role of the superior judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, in the past, supporting the dictators, who had trampled the constitution and this practice erodes the people’s trust in the institution.

“The Supreme Court, by design or omission, has too often been employed as an instrument to suppress the will of the people, rather than to safeguard it. From the validation of the dissolution of the first expression of the will of the people, the Constituent Assembly, to the repeated endorsement of unconstitutional interventions by unelected power centres,” he wrote.

The unconstitutional removal and subsequent judicial execution of the elected Prime Minister Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, by men in robes sworn to protect the right to life, remains one of the gravest and most unpardonable “betrayal” of our oath and of the people’s trust.

The persecution of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto by unelected elements within the State institutions, and later the disqualification, humiliation, and harassment of former prime minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, the current Chief Minister of Punjab, were not isolated events but a continuation of a pattern of suppression of the people’s will when the interests of the unelected elite were threatened.

The current President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, and Prime Minister, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, also became victims of the same phenomenon.

It took forty long years for the judges of this very Court to publicly acknowledge that it was complicit in the judicial murder of a popular leader, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and more gravely, in the suppression of the will of the people itself.

Justice Minallah recalled that not a single judge has ever been held accountable for suppressing the will of the people, not even those who sent a human being to the gallows simply because it was demanded by a uniformed dictator.

He stated that the iconic leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who had spent thirty-eight years in prison for resolutely fighting against tyranny and foreign occupation was declared a traitor and the political party, National Awami Party, was banned from the arena of politics through sanction of the guardians of the Constitution, this Court.

Today yet another elected leader, the former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, finds himself victimized under the same cycle of suppression.

The SC judge questioned, “Must we wait another forty years for the judiciary to acknowledge its complicity in denying justice to the will of the people of today? It is precisely because the judiciary has been historically captured and continues to serve as a guardian of the power elite rather than as the guardian of the Constitution and the people’s sovereign will.”

He stated that the truth is known to us, but it is whispered only in the tea room and chambers of this Court. The independence of this institution has too often been compromised from within, whether through surrender or through active participation.

Six courageous judges of the Islamabad High Court sent a letter, which provided an opportunity for the redemption of the wrongs committed. Regrettably, the Supreme Court chose to stand beside the forces that had attacked the independence of a constitutional court.

“We also chose to look the other way when another Chief Justice, who in the context of the reserved seats case, had warned twelve judges of this very Court that he was the one responsible for stalling the imposition of martial law and that “They would come and send us home”.

Justice Minallah wrote, “The history of our judiciary is not unblemished, nor flattering. However, its past failings, no matter how grave, cannot justify its continued capture to serve the interests of the unelected elites.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025