The Lahore Bar Association (LBA) on Friday filed a review petition against the apex court's verdict on 21st Constitutional Amendment that had validated the establishment of military courts' establishment. On August 05, in its 902-page verdict, a 17-member full court of the Supreme Court upheld the establishment of military courts with a proviso that any order or sentence awarded under the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 1952, is subject to a judicial review by High Courts and Supreme Court.
Filing the review petition under Article 188 of the Constitution read with Order XXVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 1980 and Order XLVII Rule 1 of Code of Civil Procedure president Lahore Bar Association (LBA) Chaudhry Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan made Federation through federal law secretary, and all the four provinces through law secretaries as respondents.
The LBA submitted, "The majority of the judges did not include fundamental rights conferred under Chapter I Part II of the Constitution as part of the salient features of the Constitution." The Bar further said that fundamental right of the civilians of Pakistan in respect of access to justice has been curtailed by establishment of military courts under the 21st Constitutional Amendment.
"This honourable court has omitted to mention 'separation of power' while enumerating basic/salient features of the Constitution - This omission may kindly be supplied", the petitioner said. The petitioner urged the court to declare 21st Constitutional Amendment Act 1 of 2015 and Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act 2015 (Act II of 2015) invalid, repugnant to the basic/salient features of the Constitution.
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