ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s parliament clipped the powers of the Supreme Court in the early hours of Monday by empowering the executive through an amendment to the constitution passed with a two-thirds majority in both the senate and the National assembly.
With full backing from the powerful military, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s govt had been attempting since last month to introduce a set of constitutional changes in parliament apparently aimed at granting more powers to the executive in making judicial appointments.
The 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2024, passed during a late-night session of parliament, aimed at taking away the SC’s suo motu powers, setting the chief justice of Pakistan’s term at three years, and empowering the PM to appoint the next top judge from among the three most senior SC judges. It states that a 12-member parliamentary committee, comprising eight NA members and four from the Senate, will appoint the chief justice from a panel of the three most senior judges of the top court for a period of three years. The panel will forward the name to the PM who will then send it to the president for appointment.
The bill, tabled by law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, was approved by the NA with 225 votes, one more than required for a two-thirds majority, after a handful of turncoats from jailed former PM Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) voted against the party’s policy. In the Senate, the required number for two-thirds was 64 and 65 members voted in favour. Hours later, President Asif Ali Zardari gave formal assent to the new law. Imran’s party, however, abstained from voting.
An earlier attempt, in Sept, by the governing PML-N to bulldoze the amendments did not succeed as it failed to win the support of some opposition lawmakers and the legislation could not be tabled despite the two Houses being in session.
Sharif’s govt said the constitutional amendment has ensured that parliament will not remain a rubber stamp in future. The current govt’s tensions with the judiciary have been on the rise since controversial nationwide general elections were held in Feb this year.
The new legislation, specifically about judicial reforms, was passed just days ahead of the retirement of chief justice Qazi Faez Isa. Khan’s PTI has been accusing Isa of being aligned with govt, an allegation govt has repeatedly rejected.
Under the previous law, Justice Isa would have been automatically replaced by the senior puisne judge, currently Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who has consistently issued verdicts deemed favourable to Khan and PTI.
PTI assailed the “conscience” of lawmakers affiliated with it who voted in favour of the amendment. “They won votes on Imran Khan’s name and sold their vote to the same mafia against whom the public gave them the mandate!” the party said on its ‘X’ account, sharing pictures of the said lawmakers and terming them “seditious”.
“These conscience-sellers would be counted among the darkest characters in Pakistan’s history,” it added.
PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan criticised the bill, saying it would make the judiciary “subservient” for all time.