The idea that a proposed retirement age extension is being used to favor “one particular institution” was refuted on Tuesday by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, who also stated that if the measure is accepted, it will be applied to all institutions.
The statement follows media reports alleging that the administration was considering amending the Constitution to fix the top justice’s tenure. As to Article 179 of the Constitution, justices of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire when they reach the age of superannuation, which is 65 years old.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar recently stated that he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice” when expressing his opinion on the reports of the constitutional change.
At a press conference held in Islamabad today, Muhammad Aurangzeb, the finance minister, and Attaullah, the law minister, discussed the matter. They stated that the proposal to extend the retirement age was intended to apply to all institutions, rather than to single out any specific institution, as has been rumored in the media over the past few weeks.
According to the minister of information, retirement ages have gone up in some nations while life expectancies have increased globally. He clarified that pensions were a significant cost and burden for the government.
When the proposed extension is granted, he said, it will be applicable to all departments and institutions nationwide. He continued, “At this time, proposals on the matter are being requested and are being discussed.”
Aurangzeb also suggested raising the retirement age to 65 years old and claimed that pension payments were a significant burden on the economy that needed to be addressed.
The law minister added that there was still uncertainty on the extent to which the retirement age should be raised, but that the pension reforms would apply to all.
He did, however, assert that a moral choice was made to reduce the government’s pension liability in order to provide “breathing space.” The move, Azam continued, will affect all organizations, government employees, members of the military forces, the judicial system, and the executive branch.
He claimed the prime minister had formed a committee to deliberate on the proposal.
The PTI has said that it will oppose any constitutional reform that would change the length of a judge’s term, characterizing them as “person-specific” modifications meant to help the current chief justice.
Reports on modifications to the terms of superior court judges have been circulating for some time now. For this reason, initiatives to modify the Constitution have been made in the past.
When the PTI was in power on October 1, 2019, two of its MPs, Fakhar Imam and Amjad Khan Niazi, introduced a private bill in the National Assembly to increase the retirement age of judges of the highest court to 68 years old.
Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa held the position at the time.
But when Khosa retired in December after reaching retirement age and was replaced as the nation’s most senior adjudicator by Gulzar Ahmed, the rumors that had been circulating calmed down.
The votes of two-thirds of the members in both the Senate and the NA are required for any constitutional modification that would alter the terms of Supreme Court justices.
This indicates that 224 of the 336 members of the NA would have to vote for the amendment to be approved. The National Assembly website indicates that the coalition in place holds a two-thirds majority in the lower house.
64 senators make up the two-thirds majority among the Senate’s 96 members.
Following the elections on April 2, the coalition in power holds 59 seats in the house.
