After the plea was dropped, the Supreme Court on Thursday decided a petition asking for a ruling that the legislature cannot introduce or enact the government’s much-discussed “Constitutional Package.”
Legislation proposing a number of constitutional reforms, including an extension of the tenure of the chief justice, is included in the Constitutional Package.
Experts worry that by limiting the Supreme Court to just considering appeals or petitions of a civil and criminal nature, the proposed revisions will effectively undermine the independence of the court.
A group of attorneys, led by former Supreme Court Bar Association Abid Shahid Zuberi, petitioned the highest court in September to stop the government from introducing the measure in parliament because they were disturbed by the plans of the government.
Legislation proposing a number of constitutional reforms, including an extension of the tenure of the chief justice, is included in the Constitutional Package.
Experts worry that by limiting the Supreme Court to just considering appeals or petitions of a civil and criminal nature, the proposed revisions will effectively undermine the independence of the court.
A group of attorneys, led by former Supreme Court Bar Association Abid Shahid Zuberi, petitioned the highest court in September to stop the government from introducing the measure in parliament because they were disturbed by the plans of the government.
The SC registrar’s office had earlier returned the petition; nevertheless, a supplementary cause list released on Saturday set a hearing date. Additionally, the Balochistan Bar Council, acting through Zuberi, filed a petition last week opposing the modifications.
The case was heard today by a three-judge panel that was led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and included Justices Shahid Bilal Hasan and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
Though opposition parties’ objections prevented the ruling coalition from introducing the modifications in the Parliament last month, agreement on the legislation has been growing in the last few days.
A day ago, the leaders of the JUI-F, PPP, and PML-N convened at Jati Umra, where the ruling parties essentially succeeded in winning over Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
However, PTI has been granted more time to share its own draft by a special parliamentary committee that is considering the modifications.
The hearing
Advocate Hamid Khan appeared on behalf of the petitioners at the beginning of the session. He asked the judge to grant him permission to revoke his plea.
“Did Hamid Khan withdraw his application after being appointed as counsel?” CJP Isa enquired. “Abid Zuberi himself could have withdrawn the application,” the speaker said.
The chief justice announced that a hearing on a related application had been scheduled with opposition.
Khan answered, “We withdraw both applications,” nonetheless.
At the attorney’s request, the bench then resolved the petitions.
