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The Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday fixed for hearing on October 17 a petition seeking a declaration that the government’s much-touted constitutional amendments cannot be introduced or enacted by parliament.
The much-talked-about Constitutional Package is legislation proposing a set of constitutional amendments, including the extension of the top judge’s term.
Experts fear that the proposed amendments would virtually erode the independence of the judiciary by restricting the Supreme Court to only hearing appeals or petitions of civil and criminal nature.
Perturbed by the government’s plans, a group of lawyers, led by former Supreme Court Bar Association Abid Shahid Zuberi had moved a petition before the apex court in September to restrain the government from tabling the bill before parliament.
The petition was previously returned by the SC registrar’s office but was fixed for hearing in a supplementary cause list issued today. Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa will lead the bench hearing the case, the other members being Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Shahid Bilal Hassan.
JUI-F, PPP express hope to agree on joint draft
Meanwhile, consensus on the amendment took another step today as the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) expressed the hope of agreeing on a shared draft together with the PPP, the ruling coalition’s partner.
Three separate drafts of the constitutional package are being prepared — one by the government, the second by the PPP, and the third by the JUI-F.
The committee, led by PPP’s Khursheed Shah, has the representation of all parties, including the PTI. It was formed by the National Assembly speaker for reconciliation among lawmakers, particularly between the PTI and the government, after a raid by plainclothesmen to round up the PTI men from the Parliament House.
The parliamentary committee meeting took place yesterday where major political parties shared their drafts with each other, but only the PPP made its proposals public.
The parliamentary committee discussed the drafts threadbare, even though no decision was made.
During the meeting today, the special committee decided to form a subcommittee to consider the drafts submitted by the JUI-F and the PPP. The meeting was later adjourned till Monday at 3:30 pm.
The sub-committee, constituted under the leadership of Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, will finalise its decision and give its recommendations to the special committee in two days, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui said while speaking to the media.
He said that the sub-committee would have representation from JUI-F and the PTI, adding that the amendment was not political rather it was for the supremacy of the parliament.
Separately, JUI-F Senator Karman Murtaza told the media that the only disagreement PPP and his party held over the constitutional amendment was on the Constitutional Court.
“The primary conversation taking place is concerned with the Constitutional Court,” Murtaza said, adding that his party believed there was no need for a constitutional court given the number of cases.
“You can make benches be that in the Supreme Court […] which prioritises constitutional cases,” he said.
According to a post on PPP’s X account, PPP leaders Syed Naveed Qamar and Murtaza Wahab met Senator Murtaza after the meeting at Zardari House.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also shared his party’s draft on X and said he was engaged in a “meaningful dialogue” with the JUI-F to form a consensus on the draft.
“We hope a joint draft can go on to form the basis of a broader consensus of political parties to pass the 26th constitutional amendment.”
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan told reporters that the party had received both drafts and would present its recommendations after deliberation.
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