LAHORE: Senior lawyers have reacted sharply to the proposed constitutional package and called upon Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to stay away from the controversy.

In a statement on Sunday, Muneer A. Malik and Faisal Siddiqi, advocates Supreme Court, urged CJP Isa to relinquish his robes with honour on Oct 25, 2024, and said that Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah will deservedly be the de jure CJP on the dawn of Oct 26.

They also asked CJP Isa not to be a nominee for any appointment for any proposed constitutional court or bench.

They recalled that they had acted either as counsels for CJP Isa, or publicly supported him through their writings against the unconstitutional and mala fide presidential reference filed against then-Justice Isa.

Muneer Malik urges CJP Isa to retire on Oct 25

They called the government move an unprecedented assault on the Consti­tution and Supreme Court and the High Courts through a dubious and questionable constitutional amendments package.

Amendments made to the Constitution do not lie in the domain of a parliament that lacks national legitimacy, they said, adding, “We therefore urge the legal fraternity and the judiciary to resist and reject these”.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Shehzad Shaukat expressed surprise as to why the government is getting so secretive on the constitutional package and not bringing it to the designated forums for proper discussion, making the whole nation speculate on the issue.

In a statement, he pointed out that the SCBA is unlikely to oppose the proposed amendment if it is related only to the institution of a constitutional court which, he says, is necessary to check the unusual delay in the adjudication of cases of common people only because the Supreme Court is mostly engaged in hearing of cases of political nature.

He recalled that even PTI leader Imran Khan and JUI-F emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman were signatories to the Charter of Democracy in 2006 that had called for setting up the federal constitutional court.

However, he declared, they would resist if the government tried to enhance the retirement age of judges or made any person-specific constitutional amendment as the Supreme Court had already declared null and void person-specific legislation.

Senior lawyer Khurram Chughtai said the nation is yet to overcome the errors of “constitutional patchwork” done through the 18th Amendment which was discussed by senior jurists and parliamentarians of various parties for a whole year before it was introduced, while the incumbent government is making “non-serious” efforts to introduce another constitutional package drafted by the likes of Tarar.

“At a time when parliament is incomplete because of reserved seats issue and results of elections of many constituencies are controversial, a government that cannot even appoint law secretary despite the Supreme Court orders is attempting to pass a constitutional amendment, which has far-reaching effects, without a threadbare discussion on it in the house committees and other forums,” he regretted.

Asad Jamal, another lawyer, said if election to the highest constitutional off­ice of presidency could be held by the same “incomplete” parliament, then there­ was no harm in getting the constitutional amendment passed by the same house.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024