SC dismisses plea seeking declaration against proposed constitutional amendment upon withdrawal

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed petition seeking declaration against the much-touted 26th proposed constitutional amendment, upon its withdrawal.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, on Thursday, heard the joint petition of former president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Abid Shahid Zuberi and five members of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).

At the onset of the hearing, senior advocate Hamid Khan, appearing on behalf of the petitioners, stated that they be allowed to withdraw the petitions. Upon that, the chief justice questioned; “Were you [Hamid Khan] appointed a lawyer only to withdraw the application?”

“Abid Zuberi could have withdrawn the petition himself [...] five lawyers had filed the petition; they could have appeared before the court themselves to withdraw it,” he added.

CJP Faez told Hamid Khan that there are two cases before the bench; one is the main petition, while the other is the appeal against the SC Registrar’s objections. The counsel then replied that he wanted to withdraw both of them.

Ex-SCBA chief Zuberi and five members of the PBC on September 16 had filed the petition under Article 184(3) of Constitution.

The Balochistan Bar Council also challenged the proposed bill, saying it is in complete violation of all the constitutional principles and is an attempt to destroy the independent judiciary and fundamental rights as guaranteed under the Constitution.

The proposed Constitutional Amendments Bill destroys the principles of independence of judiciary, access to justice and fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens of Pakistan.

However, the Supreme Court Registrar’s Office on September 19 returned the former SCBA president’s petition. It said that hypothetical questions are posed in the petition.

The Registrar’s Office order said that the petition has been filed under Article 184(3) of the constitution to challenge a document which has not yet attained the status of a law and it is stated to be a “proposed law”, not yet introduced in the parliament.

It also said that the members of the National Assembly and the Senate who may pass a bill, if and when presented. However, they are not arrayed as parties, while the federation, the provinces, the principal secretaries to the prime minister and the president who are listed as respondents are not members of the Parliament.

The order further stated that the petitioners are advocates and members of PBC, whereas, the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act stipulates that the lawyers should not become parties.

It also said that if the petitioners have a grievance and want to be portrayed as members of the PBC then they should first approach their respective bodies, i.e. the SCBA and the PBC for authorising them to represent these bodies.

Just a day before the withdrawal of the petitions, top political parties — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) — had also forged consensus on the amendments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024